Category: Uncategorized

I got the (possibly real?) Manx dune buggy running today.  We ordered a new computer – I still don’t have the old computer running yet.

Now that it runs, I can tune it!  Or…. we don’t have any O2 happening – lo and behold, it’s not even connected to the computer!  Interesting.  It runs ~ok~, and can be driven ~gently~, but it cannot be tuned without a working O2 sensor.  The connector is unplugged, and the computer end of the connector is missing.  Weird.

Lots of really nice work done putting it together, and some other “interesting” touches as well.

I got a call from a friend who runs a shop in town, to see if I can help him out with a customer’s MegaSquirted Myers Manx dune buggy.  Really cool buggy – lots of attention to detail on it!

I took the ECU home and have run a bunch of tests and am now stumped.  I’m fairly certain there is something wrong with the crank trigger circuitry or the chip itself.  I have borrowed a MegaStim board to test the ECU (I have since ordered a JimStim for myself), and I can follow the rpm signal into the board, through the opto-isolator chip, and into the main chip of the ECU, but the ECU just isn’t seeing it.  I can fake “trigger” the injectors, but the ECU isn’t recognizing a “running” engine.

I’m confident I can solve it, but I’ve been at it now for about 6 hours of research and testing.  The customer is just better off ordering a new ECU.  I, on the other hand, I am very stubborn.

I will not be dominated by an electronic circuit.

For my eldest son’s birthday, I bought him a small tool kit.  One of those snap-the-tool-into-the-plastic-case jobbies.  I figured I would get him a basic kit as one of those “Let us see what Squirt does” kind of gifts.

He loved it!  He would show it to everybody who came to visit, he would tell complete strangers that he got the kit for his birthday.

He also started taking toys apart with it.  Which is fine, although risky.  Today I gave him an old printer to take apart – learn how things are assembled, without any risk.

He would get me to help him when he got stuck, and I’d help him a bit and let him continue.  At one point, the printer case just needed some bigger muscle to “unsnap” it.  In doing so, I snapped one of the screwdrivers in half.

My son was devastated.

He wept and wept and wept, and I felt terrible.  The screw driver is unique, and it fits the case specifically.  I had no idea where I could find a replacement.  As he calmed down a bit, I took him out to the garage, sat him on a stool, and started making a new handle.

And here it is.  And it fits the case, too.

Not the way I wanted to spend my evening, but a good opportunity to show how to deal with adversity.  Plus, my son hates mistakes and craves perfection (as I do; go figure), so he got to see how I dealt with mistakes (and there were a few in the reproduction of the screwdriver).

Because I’m an idiot, I set my iPod on the cowl of the Fiendish Firefly, whereupon it fell down and into my grinder sparks.  Nice.  Really ticked me off.

I bought a new digitizer off eBay, which also came with the tools to do the replacement.

Tips:

• Review a couple of tutorials online.  They all help.
• Take your time popping the screen out.
• Use a hair drier to soften the adhesive to get the digitizer off its wee plastic frame.
• Use Acetone and a Q-tip to dissolve the adhesive residue

If I were to do it all over again, I’d recommend getting a new digitizer that comes with a new plastic frame.  The original had more adhesive around the edges, and without that “extra” adhesive, there are wee gaps around the screen now.  Oh well.

THAT was an ordeal.

For whatever reason, my WordPress installation decided to send all Admin Logins to a 404 error.  I did a WACK of Googling, and was only able to log back in after renaming the .htaccess to .htaccess.old .  Deleting it could work too.

I tried disabling plugins.

I tried restoring a site backup.

I tried restoring a database backup.

I tried earlier versions of both.

I contacted my web host, to no avail.

So, when your wordpress admin login gives a 404 error – delete this .htaccess file.

Of course, this might be the only time I get in, so….

Curse you.  And curse your impossible to get to fan location.  And curse your roofing nail proximity to the skin on my back – good thing my Tetanus shots are up to date.  And curse your impossibly hot Okanagan attic heat.  And curse the vent ducting that couldn’t stay in one piece. And curse the vent duct insulation that cannot be installed over the duct by mortals.  And curse they fact that I didn’t notice you could buy the two already assembled.  Darn it all to heck.  And curse losing tools in the blown insulation. And curse the itchy insulation. And curse the surgical gloves that kept ripping.  And curse the mask that refused to seal against my face. And curse the hose clamp that I forgot to attach to the roof truss before attaching the vent. And curse the duct tape that stuck to everything but where it needed to go.  Curse you, bathroom fan vent, curse you.  You make me sad.

I had removed it because it allegedly didn’t work.  But then some students said it did work. So….. It’s back.

Had strep throat mid-January.

Got on Amoxicillin for ten days.

Day five of Amoxicillin, I got a full-body rash.  Cool.  Maybe an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, or maybe I had Mono?  Got a blood test for Mono – didn’t hear anything back (which usually means the results are negative).

Day ten of Amoxicillin, a different Doctor (I was kind of between Doctors at the time) said this was an allergic reaction, and I should stop taking Amoxicillin and get on Prednisone (seven days) and Hydrocortisone cream (five days) to deal with the rash.

Day seven of Prednisone, I got a sore throat.  Usually, antibiotics and my Asthma medication react together and give me Thrush.  I went off my Asthma meds (and did, this time, as well) when I went on Amoxicillin. Doctor checks, and prescribes Nystatin (seven days) to deal with Thrush.

Day two of Nystatin, 5:35am, I wake my sweetie so she can get the kids to school, and I drive myself to Emergency because my throat is swelling shut, I can’t swallow, and am having difficulty breathing.  The Doctor there gives me a Steroid shot in my bum and sends me home, saying I’ll feel better in two days.  Thankfully, they took a swab for a lab test.

Day four of Nystatin, 5:45am, I wake my sweetie again, and drive myself to Emergency again.  Now an intravenous Steroid, and an antibiotic that if I’m allergic to Amoxicillin, I would have a 5% chance of being allergic to – and if I was allergic, it could be lethal, so they would watch me for a couple hours.  Lab results said it was Strep again.  By 11:30 they sent me home with a prescription for Cephalex (ten days).  My guess is that Prednisone killed my immune system, Strep got pissed off and brought friends.

Somewhere in there, my right leg started to swell up.  Doctor says it might be a blood clot, which if it goes to my lungs may cause shortness of breath, if it goes to my brain…. stroke.  Nice.

I’m on a “Priority 1 (24-48 hours)” thing to get that looked at.  144 hours later, I was in the hospital getting an ultrasound on my leg.  Person doing the ultrasound was a bit shocked at the rash from hell on my legs.  I may find out in a couple more days what the results are.

Added a new picture to Drafting Level 2

Added a wack of pictures to Electronics Level 1

Added a wack of Project pictures to Drafting Level 1

Added a new tool: Ball Turner

From us, to you, with all that that implies.  Don’t get arrested.