Bothelagio [s]

So this weekend wasn't recovery from getting wisdom teeth pulled. That's next weekend. This weekend was housework and yardwork and Superbike Assen.



Some 1-1/4" pvc, an elbow, nipple, and end cap makes a fountain at one of the pump outlets. The pressure upstream of the de filter hasn't increased.



The top terrace is growing pretty quick.



The bottom terrace wall has bubbled in a couple more places. The thin set - texture - paint approach has worked well the mend the other spots.



Shred the Gnar is first seed for playoffs Thursday.

Productive... enjoyable... why how would you describe it? [s]

Kafka turned one on the fifteenth. He got an ad hoc cake and a hearty fear of lit candles. Even better, he spent a weekend with his platonic girlfriend Lola (sorry Olema, long distance relationships so rarely work out).



We took a trip to Fiesta Island, I entertained myself with the d700 while the dogs wandered about: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12.



On the way to Terramar I saw a dude on a Desmo RR (wasn't Tom Cruise [dude's feet can touch the ground]). It's tough to take a phone shot without swerving into a bike worth seventy bills. Nice to see it out on the road though.



Speaking of silly motorbikes, wtf Buell? Is it really smart to blow exhaust onto your tire and rear brake?

I've been a bit excessive with the cell camera. But it's yielded all sorts momentary imagery:



Tasty, limited Stone that Harley brought me from his team's trip to the brewery.



My favorite Canadian's brother at KMB.



Will's family auto museum.



I bought a Husqy. It's not the one I expected to own, but it was impossible to pass up. It's pretty ideal for mowing the lower terrace, particularly on account of the stairs and its lightness.



So the next hot thing is going to be a hammock. It will be absolutely crucial to enjoying the summer. The key areas of research are location and material. I could do a big one from the house to the deck pillars or a smaller one between pillars. I could go with the classic cotton or look into newer, stretchier materials. This is important.

Alas, Blogger has decided to drop support for ftp (their engine, your domain) at the end of the month. So it looks like I'm going to have to do some perling before I can post again. Not this weekend. This weekend is recovery from getting wisdom teeth pulled. This weekend will be a vicodin-fueled adventure into Final Fantasy Ex Aye Aye Aye.

Title credit: Jes.

Piping [s]

The master bathroom fixtures: Moen mixer and three way diverter valve, Moen shower head, Kohler body sprays. The valves are pull-on push-off so you don't have to fiddle with the temperature. I went with flush mount body sprays.



Pops taught me how to sweat pipe this weekend. Left to right: flux, solder, pipe abrasives, sparker, tape, propane.

1. Clean the pipes with a wire brush.
2. Goop some flux on.
3. Connect.
4. Heat them with the propane torch.
5. Add solder when the pipe is hot enough to melt it, the flux will magically suck it inside the joint.
   

The piping is installed, supported, and pressure tested.



The potted items on the deck now have drippers controlled by a single valve.



I still need to buy a lawnmower, but the grass and vines are growing plenty.



Sweet coincidence of Port au Prince!

Purchases, products, plantings [s]

Chilies and rosemary and stuff - plants that are used as seasonings so we don't have to grow a whole bunch to have useful quantities. Since I feel that organic foods are pretentious, I'm going to spray them with DDT every week or so.



The front yard is getting some love. The papyrus is doing well and Jes added some sort of flower. The grass is still flourishing, but now I need a damn lawnmower.



The deck's been cleared off for another coat of stain and then some heavy sealant. I'm not messing around with that thin deck sealant this time.

Also in store for the backyard is replacing all the pvc drain grates (most broken) with metal ones. They're actually cheapest at Home Depot.


Source.

I finally settled on wheels and tires for the vr4. Enkei pf01's with Sumi HTR Z IIIs from Tirerack. There aren't a lot of options for the Mitsu (see tiny caliper on Z above) but I like them and it's time. I stopped by Discount yesterday to see if their store selection differed from their site. Barely.

So the pfs have an extra half inch of width, are forged, and add about fifty pounds of lightness.

Now, as with surfboards, I'm set until I move up to carbon fiber (espp-dependent).


Source.

Along with replacement fridge water filters and a subscription to Roadracing World & Motorcycle, Amazon is sending me Endless Ocean 2.

Garage doors [s]

Fed up with the garage door that opened into the dryer (pictured below), I bought a replacement that would open into the side room. I went with a steel exterior type.



I bought a second for the garage-to-outside door, this one will be a challenge because it requires a dog door.

Then caulking and trimming on both.



The sod is still alive. The black bamboo should eventually grow alongside the railing in the left part of the image. In the same planter, under the deck, I put the large jade bush I got from SFS nursery.


Thanks to Jon, I have plywood up in the master bathroom so it's time to think about fixtures.



Shower head, body sprays, done. Price Pfister had a nice diagram illustrating the closed loop plumbing necessary for body sprays.

Transitions [s]

I bought the Sealy cal king that Costco stocks. It's comfy, it's big, it needs a frame.



I cleared off most of the master balcony, though I'm not quite sure what to do with the shelving that's in pretty good shape - albeit pink trimmed. The foosball table is going out there, I think that'll be the place to be come summer.



Heather's departure has freed up prime real estate for a study. My fantasmical workshop of killer apps and photography is now situated between the media room and the garage. I don't really need the upstairs anymore.



I'm rolling right into a second playthrough of Mass Effect 2. The first run was a bit hasty so I could use the finish bonuses for the second, real effort.

• I could almost see Master Chief in the final cutscene. It's a proper second-of-three, plotwise.
  
• ME1's music was better. The sequel's isn't bad, but it's not quite as distinct nor complementary of the action.
  
• ME2 consists of more shorter, more numerous missions. The finale is about the length of an average ME1 chapter. It's nice to know doing just one more won't keep you up until three. It also cuts down on the monotony of each dungeon.
  
• The galactic news bits still inform and entertain, but they don't match the awesomeness of the first since Mass Effect switched anchors. Using the Beyond Good and Evil voice actor for the first one was so clutch.

Precedents [s]

Renovation
I finished drywalling the 6x4 loft made accessible by the closet removal. It still needs to be patched, textured, and painted, but that's a breeze. What will it be? Storage space? Cat flat? Panic room?

I patched a couple areas on the lower terrace where the stucco had bubbled. Doing stucco sucks, so I gave thin set a try. The front wall had a couple spots where paint had peeled off, so I took care of that.



Dog
The pup may be getting over his fear of water. On our weekly run he charged through the stream crossing that recently swelled and washed away its footbridge. His display of courage emboldened Jes to do the same.

I've given him free reign of the garage now. The first day went well, the second day he learned to open the interior garage door (but didn't thrash the house).



On the third day he ate 31 (I counted) packages of Zack's Brainiac Snacks. Virtually none of it was digested. Curious how he got through so many, I gave him one and watched as he tore it apart with the grace of an intoxicated raccoon.

He's considerably smarter now.



Mass Effect 2
There are reviews everywhere, a few other thoughts:

• Darkness is totally the new pink. Empire did it. Batman did it. The sequel is much darker and seedier than the first. Fatalism dominates the mood throughout while there's an emphasis on moral ambiguity.
  
• Hooray for feedback. No planetary rovering (though it was great in doses). No endless buying/modding/selling equipment that only differs by level number. Load times have decreased appreciably.
  
• I'm worried that the number of primary characters will make their back stories either tedious or shallow. Thus far, however, I'm highly impressed that they brought back the best ME1er (Garrus). I wouldn't be the first to say the Doctor is awesome for his grim pragmatism and rapid, streamlined, multithreaded conversation style.
• The combat system is a definite improvement over the last, but falls a bit short of combat-centric games such as Gears of War and Army of Two.
• The mid-cinema interjections provide endless fun, but being ready for them is mutually exclusive with stuffing Funyons in my gaping craw.
  

More creatively, LittleThingies said,

My heart sank when i went to HMV at lunch and the guy told me they only received three copies of the special edition and they were all reserved. But he recognized me and started calling around. He managed to track down a store that had it. I went back after work and he had it waiting for me. Even God was seen to shed a tear of happiness that night.

I'm finishing up my PS3 game at the moment, hopefully will be done by tonight. I'm gonna spend all weekend playing this game in the dark, my phone will be off. My subwoofer arrives tomrorow, just in time for this game. When I was a kid and mommy told me there will be plenty of time for games when I'm grown up and making my own money. She must have been talking about THIS MOMENT.

SFS countered with:

Yesterday evening I paid CR an unexpected visit. The sight I saw was jaw
dropping: CR wearing grubby sweat clothes tucked away in a sleeping bag on
a bean bag chair playing D&D [Ed: SFS isn't "with it" anymore, he has never even been to Small Bar]. Next to him was unfinished hot pockets and cereal.

The smell accompanying the scene was "30 year old unemployed guy living in parents' basement."

As I left his house, I experienced envy for the first time in a long time.

DAMN YOU CR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Super Sunday
Since Players has canceled the annual Super Bowl event, we've been forced to relocate to a residence.

Feathers in the Cap - Players

• Waitresses > 0
• TVs > 1
• Draught beers > 1
  

Feathers in the Cap - House

• Entry < $75 Catered food
• Heated(?) pool > 0
• Allowed to shoot dice > false
• Nearest bed < 40ft
  
• Couches > 0
• Wait-dogs > 0
  

Axis
It looks like there may be an Axis and Allies match coming up. I set up and snapped the 1942 scenario. Here is the board in higher res, with initial funds depicted here. There's been some discussion on possible house rules that might even the field and emphasize creative strategies.

• Curt suggested ipc bonuses for quick turns.
  
• I'm thinking a roll for free tech at the outset and perhaps a few turns in.
• East African pirates.
  

A hot, steamy bowl of awesome [s]

I started working on a killa chili recipe hoping to pass quals for the Manbird Invitational. Since I'm an open source kinda guy, I'll bore you with pictures and descriptions later.

While the digital negative converter works its magic, I'll to quickly digress into the topic of playoffs. Wild card weekend was pretty meh, except:

• Hooray for the Pats getting embarrassed.
  
• Also, go Cards. Now, I hate Zonies as much as the next guy, but Warner is practically the same QB as Rich Gannon (well, with a ring) and Fitzgerald/Boldin are just great athletes. That game made watching the others worthwhile.
  

Actually it'd be great if they became the USA Cardinals. If the Patriots can claim New England and the Cowboys are America's Team, why can't a franchise that's resided in so many major cities claim such a constituency? Then I'd have no guilt about cheering for them.

Here's to the improbable Az-Min NFC Championship.



I thieved/rescued Megan's Italian Stone Pine and I bought a Norfolk Island Pine to add some (eventual) vertical greenery to the yard. Likely spots are the middle section of the front yard and next to the barbecue.



35w halogens have replaced the bulbs in the living room. They're much more directional and suck enough current to make the motion sensor happy.





I painted a piece of osb. You know, for whatever.



Since I could turn a deaf ear to most of the handegg, I re-reorganized the in-wall entertainment center. Now it has room for the woofer.

In other news, plywood continues to go up in the master bathroom, I have some monkey board ready for the next step. Since there's much drywall affixing to be done, I bought a corded drill/driver for the added power.



Onto the chili. Since this was my first attempt, my m.o. was to use quality ingredients not being able to rely on a magical synergy of flavors that is developed over many attempts. I readied all my favorite seasonings, with no intention of using them all - but you gotta be ready.



Copious onions and orange peppers, chopped small because the only chunky thing in chili should be steak. And maybe a very softened garlic clove (gotta try this next time), like the ones at hot pot. It was all sauteed in olive oil and butter, per Rob's instructions.



Next was to cook the beef. With lime, of course.



Quality ingredients, yo. I threw in some nice Italian sausage and greek olives.



Once the meat was about done I added various seasonings. Chili powder, ancho, rosemary, peppercorn, basil, tapatio, and Fire Rock pale.



Then simmered with a can of black beans and half a jar of tomato sauce. Also in lieu of brown sugar I added some of the maple syrup SFS's mom mules across the border for me.

It occured to me that so much work/seasoning is put in to overcoming the tomatoey flavor. I wondered if I just needed to simmer the pot for a very long time (crock style) to let the various elements coalesce into the medium. Or maybe my chili platform should be to use as little tomato as possible so that you can taste the beef, sausage, olive, sesame oil, etc.

The liquid part of the chili isn't bland, but it isn't distinct. The WIN comes when you eat a piece of beef, sausage, olive, or combination thereof. The flavors seem to cling to the elements, rather than suspend in the medium. I crumbled some gorgonzola on each heated bowl to effect some tartness, but never followed through with my aspiration to add a nacho cheese layer.

It's a fascinating problem of taste engineering, and I look forward to further study. Next batch will certainly include bacon, chilis, and more sesame oil.



No chili for the pooch.