75% MS Free… again

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on June 28, 2008
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I know you won’t find this terribly interesting, but since I have little else to talk about… I’ll tell you anyway.

I installed the latest stable, 64-bit AMD release of FreeBSD 7… about 6 times now. Luckily, as I’m building the system from scratch and already have all my important stuff backed-up, it’s a very quick process (about 15 minutes).

It’s been awhile since I’ve run this OS, so I’ve spent considerable effort trying out the latest versions of the various desktop environments and window managers out there. Last time I used it, Gnome with Enlightenment was the ‘hot ticket’. But in keeping up (and possibly surpassing) the eye candy of Vista and Leopard, there is Compiz Fusion.

Unfortunately, there isn’t yet a driver for my video card that supports it. For the time-being, I’m running a vanilla KDE 3, but I’m tempted to try to install KDE 4.

So far, the major ‘con’ of the migration has been version conflicts with dependency components when installing things like Firefox. But by the 3rd re-install I learned not to mix using ‘packages’ and ‘ports’. While the ‘packages’ install much quicker, they are pre-built binaries made to be generic. Installing from ‘ports’, on the other hand, means I get freshly compiled apps on my machine based on my specific config. The result is that by sticking with ‘ports’, though it takes much longer to install, everything runs MUCH smoother and faster.

The other drawbacks are:

  • Netflix requires Microsoft’s DRM in order to watch movies online… and the only workaround is to run a full-blown, fully legal/licensed version of Windows in a virtual machine. So I guess I’ll be watching my movies on my laptop
  • Flash support in Firefox on FreeBSD is limited. I installed gnash so I could watch YouTube videos. While it works, it leaves a lot to be desired. I’ll probably experiment with some other options.

Beyond that, I’m pretty happy with it so far.

PS. I’m only 75% free, because I still run Vista on the laptop, though I use OpenOffice instead of MS Office.

Once again, I’m fed up

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on June 24, 2008
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About 6 or 8 months ago I bought a new HP Pavilion desktop. It came pre-installed with Windows Vista. While I liked the interface at first, I really wanted dual monitor support so that I could watch my Scottrade account on one screen and work on the other. Well, Vista didn’t allow for that easily because it couldn’t load two video drivers at the same time… so I “upgraded” back to Windows XP.

I was soooo friggin’ amazed at the performance improvement XP has over Vista. I mean, sure Vista has some nice bells and whistles… but I found I didn’t use most of them. I was sorta’ excited to finally get to use Windows Media Center… but I find myself using WinAmp most of the time instead. Media Center wasn’t as user-friendly as I had hoped.

But, about a month ago I found my XP install a bit cludgy due to all the program installs, uninstalls and reinstalls… but I left my master XP discs at home. My only hope was to install Vista from the ‘recovery sector’ on my desktop. So I rebuilt the thing from scratch.

Long story short, it’s only been a month now, and I’m ready to go back to FreeBSD! I am so frustrated with the slowness and frequent “Would you like to report this error to Microsoft?” prompts whenever Firefox or some other application quits working. As this is actually my primary work computer, I feel lucky that I haven’t yet lost anything important. Good thing I’m a DR guy.

A few more interesting things on YouTube

Published
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on June 12, 2008
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So wrong…

I’m tired

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on June 1, 2008
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It’s been a little over a month since I posted… and since I temporarily relocated to Los Angeles. Sorry about that.

First, the work has been awesome. In a nutshell, I’m helping one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders in preparing for large-scale business interruptions… while at the same time keeping in mind that their entire industry is currently suffering a large-scale crisis. While there isn’t much I can do to prevent mortgage foreclosures, I feel good about the fact that my client is doing quite a bit to assist homeowners in avoiding foreclosure and my work helps to ensure they could keep up these efforts if/when faced with a business-interrupting disaster. So, if you’re a homeowner with a mortgage or HELOC through my client, and you’re currently working with them to avoid default and to protect your credit rating, you can rest assured that an earthquake, hurricane or pandemic flu outbreak won’t impact their ability to work with you just as they always have.

Second, life in LA is quite a bit different than what I’m used to. Many of you know that my house in Indiana is my ‘fortress of solitude’ in that it is a small little place in the country, the property (about 3 acres) is mostly wooded and very quiet and peaceful. In contrast, I’m currently staying in an apartment in north Los Angeles, Highland Park to be specific. The view outside my apartment is of the 110 freeway. I mean… I’m so close to the 110 that I have to adjust the volume on my TV to account for traffic noise, turning it up so that I can hear over the traffic but not so loud as to disturb my neighbors.

Speaking of ‘Highland Park”, maybe you read about the 14 year-old girl killed by stray gunfire on Memorial Day. This happened just a few blocks from where I’m staying. I admit that I moved here looking for the cheapest rent within reasonable driving-distance to my client’s office, and didn’t do much research into the area itself. It’s not the nicest part of town, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen.

Totally unrelated, this is hilarious… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAu39I5QOUc

Made it

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on April 6, 2008
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I don’t think I mentioned this earlier, but it’s probably obvious that I didn’t get to take the RV to California.  I didn’t have time to get the furnace and water heater working… and a hot shower is something I couldn’t live without for long.  Plus, after much searching, I had a hard time finding a decent RV park to set up.  Nearly all those I contacted require the RV be 10 years old or newer.  Since my beast is an ‘83, it doesn’t quite qualify. Ugh!  So, she will sit back home in the driveway until I figure out something. 

Anyway… I made it to California. I finally posted some pictures I took during the drive, including those from Greensburg, KS. 

That’s one heckuva long, exhausting drive.

Driving to California

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on April 2, 2008
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I meant to post earlier, but I’ve been busy driving.  Ugh.  So far, it’s been rather boring.  I left Tuesday afternoon and managed to get as far as Concordia, MO, which is about an hour east of Kansas City. Today, I got as far as Dalhart, TX. 

When I left, I expected my GPS to follow a similar route as what I looked up on Google which would take me south through Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona.  I didn’t notice until I got to Junction City, Kansas that instead the GPS was going to take me across Colorado and Utah, then down through Las Vegas.  I decided I didn’t really want to go that way, so I went as far as Saline, then turned south on 135.  The GPS argued for me to make a U-turn for about 45 minutes before it finally gave in and recalculated the route to take me through Witchita.  I really want to drive through NM and AZ as I’ve never been there before.

On the road today as I was almost through Kansas, I noticed a sign for the World’s Largest Hand-Dug Well in Greensburg, KS.  I needed to stretch my legs anyway, so I thought that would be a good attraction to stop and see.  I waIs shocked to find that the establishment was in shambles.  Then I looked around and noticed the whole town seemed to be under construction.  I mean… there were very few buildings standing.  On my way out of town, I noticed a sign referring to tornado clean-up… and that’s when it hit me.  You can read more about Greensburg at Wikipedia.

The other thing that has made this trip a little more interesting is that last night at the hotel I hunted for some GPS tracking/mapping software.  I tried 3D-Tracking but after using it for a day, I don’t like it much.  But tonight I found a new one, Reperion.  So far, I kinda’ like it.  It has too many features for me to worry about playing with right now, but knowing it has live tracking via GoogleEarth in addition to GoogleMaps, MapQuest, Yahoo!, etc is intriguing.  You can follow me for this trip using this link as I think it’s the easiest.  If you turn on ‘breadcrumbs’ you can see where I took the GPS outside as I walked around the motel.  You can read more at the site and, if you have GoogleEarth, give it a shot.

So, anyway… tomorrow I hope to get a few hours past Flagstaff, AZ so I can get to LA early in the afternoon on Friday and have some time to chill.

An interesting, productive day

Published
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on March 25, 2008
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First, I thought I was going to have several more weeks to work on the RV before I really needed it.  Instead, I got a call last night confirming that I have a gig in Pasadena, CA, and I’m expected to be there onsite on Apr 7.  So, my RV project has to be rushed to get through some of the more high-priority items so that I can hopefully get on the road this weekend.

Second, don’t mind the tools and cleaning supplies laying around, but I posted some pictures of the interior for your viewing pleasure.

So, today I made a quick trip to Edmundson RV to ask some questions and pick up some parts.  I inquired about getting a tow-bar and a base-plate installed on my pickup so I could tow it around, and drive it once I reach my destination. Their prices were pretty steep, so I opted to hold-off and shop around.  I also asked about getting my fuel tank repaired, as it seems to be gunked up or something and right now I’m running completely off the auxiliary tank.  Turns out their service department is back-logged and no way they could get it fixed by Friday.  Ugh.

I did, however, get a replacement for the bad battery isolator that was bypassed and preventing the batteries from charging.  I also picked up a new LP gas regulator, since the original was broken off during the tire-blowout. 

I got the isolator installed and tested.  Everything seems to be working as it should and now I don’t have to jumpstart it every time I shut the RV down.   I would’ve installed the LP regulator, but it turns out I accidentally gave the clerk at Edmundson’s the fittings I needed.  Ugh.

I also managed to get the RV connected to a 15amp service from the house to make sure it could run off "shore power" (I’m starting to pick up the RV-ers lingo.)  The good news is that the microwave, TV, lights, and A/C all work.  Phew!  Next, I filled up the fresh-water tank about half-way and turned on the water pump. It worked too!  I got water out of the bath/shower and the faucets in the bath and kitchen.  But the water filter is so old that it started spitting out dirty water under the kitchen sink.  So, fixing that is on the to-do list for tomorrow.

So, the big things left to do are:

  • Get the LP gas working so I can test the furnace and water heater,
  • Replace a few burned-out light bulbs,
  • Replace the water filter and fix the kitchen faucet leak, and
  • Get a tow-bar and base-plate so I can tow the truck,

Things that need done but likely won’t be until I get settled are:

  • Fix the main fuel tank. (The only reason I would really need this is to run the generator. But I don’t plan to be without access to shore power long enough to need it.  The hassle is that I’ll have to stop for gas more often on the way.),
  • Repair the fiber-glass damage resulting from the tire blow-out, and
  • Replace the old, yellowing vents and sky-lights.

RV background (and name contest)

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on March 23, 2008
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So… I’m sure you’re wondering about this RV and its background. Well, I’m about to tell you. In addition, I need a name. My instinct tells me vehicles are normally girls, but on the other hand, sometimes this one acts like a guy. I mean, in my experience so far, it just kinda’ does what it wants to do and doesn’t mind a little nudging. But too much nudging and it gets offended. So maybe it’s a guy. Anyway…

The beast is a 30′ 1983 Executive Diplomat. It’s built on a Chevrolet P30 chassis and has a Chevy 454 engine. Executive Industries, the company that built it originally, no longer exists. They were bought out by a company called Monaco Coach Corporation, who, unfortunately, have little to no information to give about this model.

As I understand it, the original owner was a rather wealthy ex-Navy guy. He bought it, used it a few times, then parked it for almost 10 years. Eventually, he sold it to a guy whose intention was to ‘flip it’. The new owner did some minor fixes to make it run again, then sold it at a profit. That’s ok with me, because I think I still got a pretty good deal.

So… on to the name contest: if you have any ideas… I would appreciate the suggestions. It’s rather inconvenient to continue to refer to it as “the 1983 Executive Diplomat” and it seems too informal to simply call it the “RV”. Look closely at the pictures, and if you have an idea for a name, post a comment. Sharon and I will evaluate the suggestions and, in a few weeks, post the official new name.

The new project officially begins

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on March 23, 2008
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I’ve created a new ‘category’ to document the work I’m about to do to bring this old 1983 Executive Diplomat back to its former glory. I’ve also created a new Photo Gallery where I’ve already uploaded a few new pictures now that we got her home.

Ever since I decided to get the RV, my biggest fear had been driving it up the hill and around the curves that lead to my house. Then I would have to manage to get it into my driveway and parked somewhere. Well, doing so wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. The old Chevy engine still does a good job of pulling this rig around.

R.V. Adventures

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on March 18, 2008
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As you probably know, "RV" is the common colloquial abbreviation for "recreational vehicle".  Speaking of "RV", have you seen the movie?

Anyway… on to my own story.

A few years ago I had a great idea. Since my work requires me to travel to different cities around the country, sometimes for months at a time, I thought I could save dramatically on my travel/lodging expenses if I had an RV.   I could drive the RV and park at a campground for months at a fraction of the cost of living out of a hotel room or getting a short-term lease on a small apartment.   And, though my company was buying the thing, I could take the RV out for personal trips too. 

So, after months of debating and searching, I finally came across a beauty on eBay selling for much less than I thought it was worth.  I bought it.

My girlfriend and I drove down to Memphis, TN in her car.  The plan was that I would drive the RV home while she followed… just in case I ran into "any problems".  We would pick up the RV in Memphis, drive to Nashville, TN and stay the night there.  Then, on Sunday morning, we would drive the rest of the way home. 

"Any problems" turned out to be an understatement. 

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