We’d like to start taking road trips. There are plenty of places suited for mini-vacations within driving distance up here.
Some good ideas I would like to incorporate into Darth, along with the existing list of desired upgrades and fixes.
Power setup – inverter, batteries, volt meter, etc.
Space heater.
Roof rack (maybe a ladder)
Small fridge instead of a cooler?
I’m giving serious thought to ditching DirecTV via QWest. It was a good package deal three years ago; Two receivers, phone w/ voicemail and unlimited long distance (whatever that is) and high speed DSL all for $120 a month.
In three years, the monthly bill has crept up to $175 a month, and that’s after I dropped the phone line and switched to MagicJack. So $175 for Satellite TV (near basic package, no movie channels or sports stuff) and DSL.
Bah, I say!
Notes-
minimum pc specs for online tv
Do I have enough bandwidth for more than one tv, plus online gaming and magicjack?
Remotes
HDTV antenna.
How it should work -
1) Turn on the TV
2) Turn on PC (if off)
3) No login needed, straight to GUI
4) ONE Remote for TV and PC
5) Create a secure partition for sensitive objects/docs.
I’d much rather build something like this than a single person shelter you have to crawl into, or a lean-to that’ll get you wet if the wind turns.
The Boys and I will try this one of these days.
Hoozyrdady.
Good question. A year ago I posted about undertaking my most ambitious project ever. Here we are in March of 2009 and nothing has been done.
Here’s the deal – Mom & Dad have been off again on again about selling their land and relocating closer to town. Up until last week they had decided to stay put, so Project Shack was back on again.
Lo’ and behold, up popped an 80 acre homestead located just outside of town and within their price range.
Project Shack is now Off again. Once the muck dries up I’ll be out on the present acreage clearing deadwood and chopping it up for firewood, at the same time I’ll keep an eye out for a good spot, just in case. Maybe I’ll buy a few acres from my folks.
Meh. We’ll see.
Hoozyrdady.
It’s about time I posted some of my projects. This one here is something I work on when server maintenance gets boring.
I first read about Samurize on Lifehacker.com. I run this setup on my secondary monitor at work. It’s big, taking up allot of screen space, and a work in progress. I made all but the weather stuff; it’s a config that came with the Samurize install that I’m slowly tweaking to match the rest of my setup. There are loads of plugins and such available for download, but I’m challenging myself to make do with the installed bells & whistles as possible. The weather.2004 stuff was proving to be a headache so I cheated. Hey, why kill myself reinventing the wheel?
On the left I have CPU, Memory and Network info, the current weather, a 5 day forecast and the latest radar image. On the right there’s running services, a work log and a section for notes on the bottom.
T’would be cool if I could get some images displayed randomly from My Pictures, and there is a plugin for that, I just haven’t played with it yet.
In the future I’ll work on a setup for my main home PC and laptop. Since I only rock the single monitor in the Underground Command Center that config will be way more compact and I’ll try for a more stylish, sci fi look.
Like this guy’s -
Click the picture to visit his flikr page.
Both the home and laptop displays will monitor vital stats like temp, loads, battery power level, Wi-Fi signal strength, so on and so forth. Maybe I’ll run an icon less desktop.
Stay tuned.
Hoozyrdady.
Late last Fall I found and purchased an '88 donor suburban with a hopefully strong running engine. The test drive was fun, the brakes were just about non-existent. The wrecker hauled it off to the garage.
Red spoke with Mech Dude around October and work was being done between priority (i.e. paying) work. Y'see, I'm broke so Darth can sit at Mech Dude's for a little longer.
The donor's interior is shot. A missing rear window guarantees the cargo area is fun-kay.
The upholstery defies description. What the hell - It's as if a nudist, backwoods meth head with a soap allergy moved in for a year and rubbed every inch of his bare flesh up and down all over the place.
Besides the engine, the only thing I can think of salvaging is some of the glass. Oh, and other assorted odds and ends like bulbs, lenses, maybe the beat to shit grill guard. Connectors.
Future parts list, no particular order-
Glowplugs- 60G plugs. Part #12563554 - Better plugs but burn cooler. The burn time must be increased. There are hotter plugs, but these are available anywhere.
Manual glow plug contol.
Second fuel filter- If I start experimenting with alternate fuels, a second high performance inline fuel filter would save me much heartache.
Tachometer.
Tires- Darth is sporting new tires, but if towing an upgrade will be in order.
Roof rack.
Dual Optima red top batteries- any of ya'll in the market for a kidney? I've hardly abused it.
Hoozyrdady.
I'm still looking for a new engine for Darth, and it's turning into a big pain in the ass. If I wanted a gas engine, they almost grow on trees. 6.2 or 6.5L diesel engines, on the other hand, not so much.
I have two leads for donor vehicles; The first one is local and cheap with a low mileage 6.5L engine. If only he'd answer his phone.
The second lead I've kind of blown off. It's a high mileage daily driver located a few hours away. The plus side is it has some new parts Darth could use besides the motor but it would take most of my budget just to buy it.
I like the idea of purchasing a donor vehicle because it would be a good source of spare parts and glass, and I can sell the stripped carcass afterwards. Have you seen the prices for scrap metal these days?
If all goes well I will take Friday off to buy the donor and get it to the garage. Wish me luck.
Hoozyrdady.
Darth Maximus has an ugly ass hood. After years of sun, snow, tree sap and bird poo it was very fugly.
When the thermometer wandered above 50 degrees (minimum recommended temp on the can) I leaped into action and prepped the patient. I warmed up the engine for that extra degree or two.
And the finished product.
This job took the entire can. Even though the finish is flat, it goes on thick enough to cover the imperfections on the hood’s surface. I think it looks great.
Supposedly the shield will stand up to rain and snow, bugs and small rocks. To remove it I’ll need either scrubbing with soap and water or a pressure washer. Let’s see how it does this winter.
Hoozyrdady.
