FA+
Shop
Lazy Hazy Days of Summer Hotter Than Hell. 66th Journal.
15 years ago
This is my head.
OK kiddies, time for a long overdue update for those that care (if any).
Did a backyard cookout this 4th of July and grilled a lot of meat and vegetables, the second outdoor grilling I did this year. I didn't cook outside all of last year so it is cool to get some done. Well, not so cool actually as the day was hot. I did rain in the first part of the day but it quickly dried up and just made things even more humid. I was sweating like crazy over the hot grill (with lots of smoke in my eyes) and just about done myself in with all that heat.
I got it done however. Tons of stuff including steak, beef sausages, chicken breasts, zucchini squash, carrots, red onions, roasted garlic cloves, green bell peppers and the like.
They all came out really well though the steaks was a little on the rare side. I wish I marinaded the chicken longer as I had to cook them thoroughly and they could have been juicier. I did slice them butterfly style to get them to cook faster than last time where I left them at full thickness. I think that helped some. All in all, I call it a success. I cooled so much that I still have leftovers even though the family took home a good amount of the leftovers.
Speaking of success, I am doing quite well in playing Counterstrike: Source online on Hellgamers Dust2 server even though I am probably twice the age of most players. I had a really nice gaming session on Sunday, improving my monthly rank to 30th out of 35k players. Not bad at all I must say. And my kill streak been jumping ever higher. Last month it was at 37, a couple of weeks ago at 43 and now sits at a nice 75 from last Sunday. Of course I finally got killed by an autoaim cheater. They are pretty easy to tell.
At least it seems a lot less cheaters plague the game since Valve made that big update. Things was super laggy when they did the change but slowly improving bit by bit though still not like it was before. I do love the less cheating though they scums are adapting. However, I am enjoying the less harassment for now at least. I am kinda used to the lag as it reminds me back in my Quake days on a 2400bps dailup modem playing on a P4 120MHz machine. Oh the memories. Playing with less than 500 ping was a good day for me back then. Nowadays I usually get around 100 or even less and is a dream compared to the old days. Plus my i7 920 quadcore computer really helps me out. If only my internet connection was a tad more responsive but much more livable than my old setup I'll take it any day.
Both of my my brothers came over for that cookout I mentioned earlier. The youngest still in the wheelchair not not as bloated like he used to be. His mobility is slowly getting better though I wish he stops smoking. Took a couple of smoke breaks while he was here. :\ Oh well, he'll never learned.
My other brother might get a job... finally. He is a CPA but been out of the job for years due his depression. His benefits ran out so he is forced to get back into the rat race. Interesting enough, he had an interview at my workplace. He thinks the interviews went well but haven't heard back from them yet. I do hope he gets it as he owes me a huge amount of money that I loaned him and I could certainly love to get paid back... at least start getting payments... finally.
I been insanely busy at work... still. It is not as bad as last month but maddening all the same. Getting rush projects while my main workload piling up. I hoped to be caught up now but slowly slipping further behind. I feel like I am starting to drown. My lab is stacking up with more stuff to work on and I need to get rid of the old stuff, running out of room. And some of the stuff I am getting I never worked on before. So it'll will take more time to get on speed on that though I really don't have the time with all the usually items trickling on in.
More fun stuff, my car died on the way home from work last week. I was lucky as it wasn't far from my home but a still a bummer anyway. The engine would turn over but won't start. I checked the spark and it was a little on the weak side so I took the distributor cap off and found the one of the rotor's screw had come off. The rotor loosen enough so it to be crooked enough to wear away the tip and also the graphite rod that connects to the coil. I replaced both the cap and rotor and got a strong spark but it still doesn't want to start.
So I looked at the fuel system. I had the fuel filter plugged up before and figured that was probably where the problem lies. I got some pressure squirting out of the Schrader valve on the fuel rail (looking back now, it seemed a bit weak also). I then took some throttle body cleaner and sprayed that into the intake. It tried to start when I cranked it over so the spark is ok, just stared for fuel. Replaced the filter and it starts up. I want to replace the screen in the gas tank but that will be a big pain to drop the tank. I suspect the one in it now is torn as I have to replace the fuel filter every few years. The filter not hard to do, just a pain when the engine dies in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I should replace it every couple of years to be sure. I only costs $10US so it'll be cheap insurance. The only problem is forgetting doing it until it is too late.
I got a few things to cover but I'll leave it off to spare the very few who actually reads this journal... if that.
Did a backyard cookout this 4th of July and grilled a lot of meat and vegetables, the second outdoor grilling I did this year. I didn't cook outside all of last year so it is cool to get some done. Well, not so cool actually as the day was hot. I did rain in the first part of the day but it quickly dried up and just made things even more humid. I was sweating like crazy over the hot grill (with lots of smoke in my eyes) and just about done myself in with all that heat.
I got it done however. Tons of stuff including steak, beef sausages, chicken breasts, zucchini squash, carrots, red onions, roasted garlic cloves, green bell peppers and the like.
They all came out really well though the steaks was a little on the rare side. I wish I marinaded the chicken longer as I had to cook them thoroughly and they could have been juicier. I did slice them butterfly style to get them to cook faster than last time where I left them at full thickness. I think that helped some. All in all, I call it a success. I cooled so much that I still have leftovers even though the family took home a good amount of the leftovers.
Speaking of success, I am doing quite well in playing Counterstrike: Source online on Hellgamers Dust2 server even though I am probably twice the age of most players. I had a really nice gaming session on Sunday, improving my monthly rank to 30th out of 35k players. Not bad at all I must say. And my kill streak been jumping ever higher. Last month it was at 37, a couple of weeks ago at 43 and now sits at a nice 75 from last Sunday. Of course I finally got killed by an autoaim cheater. They are pretty easy to tell.
At least it seems a lot less cheaters plague the game since Valve made that big update. Things was super laggy when they did the change but slowly improving bit by bit though still not like it was before. I do love the less cheating though they scums are adapting. However, I am enjoying the less harassment for now at least. I am kinda used to the lag as it reminds me back in my Quake days on a 2400bps dailup modem playing on a P4 120MHz machine. Oh the memories. Playing with less than 500 ping was a good day for me back then. Nowadays I usually get around 100 or even less and is a dream compared to the old days. Plus my i7 920 quadcore computer really helps me out. If only my internet connection was a tad more responsive but much more livable than my old setup I'll take it any day.
Both of my my brothers came over for that cookout I mentioned earlier. The youngest still in the wheelchair not not as bloated like he used to be. His mobility is slowly getting better though I wish he stops smoking. Took a couple of smoke breaks while he was here. :\ Oh well, he'll never learned.
My other brother might get a job... finally. He is a CPA but been out of the job for years due his depression. His benefits ran out so he is forced to get back into the rat race. Interesting enough, he had an interview at my workplace. He thinks the interviews went well but haven't heard back from them yet. I do hope he gets it as he owes me a huge amount of money that I loaned him and I could certainly love to get paid back... at least start getting payments... finally.
I been insanely busy at work... still. It is not as bad as last month but maddening all the same. Getting rush projects while my main workload piling up. I hoped to be caught up now but slowly slipping further behind. I feel like I am starting to drown. My lab is stacking up with more stuff to work on and I need to get rid of the old stuff, running out of room. And some of the stuff I am getting I never worked on before. So it'll will take more time to get on speed on that though I really don't have the time with all the usually items trickling on in.
More fun stuff, my car died on the way home from work last week. I was lucky as it wasn't far from my home but a still a bummer anyway. The engine would turn over but won't start. I checked the spark and it was a little on the weak side so I took the distributor cap off and found the one of the rotor's screw had come off. The rotor loosen enough so it to be crooked enough to wear away the tip and also the graphite rod that connects to the coil. I replaced both the cap and rotor and got a strong spark but it still doesn't want to start.
So I looked at the fuel system. I had the fuel filter plugged up before and figured that was probably where the problem lies. I got some pressure squirting out of the Schrader valve on the fuel rail (looking back now, it seemed a bit weak also). I then took some throttle body cleaner and sprayed that into the intake. It tried to start when I cranked it over so the spark is ok, just stared for fuel. Replaced the filter and it starts up. I want to replace the screen in the gas tank but that will be a big pain to drop the tank. I suspect the one in it now is torn as I have to replace the fuel filter every few years. The filter not hard to do, just a pain when the engine dies in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I should replace it every couple of years to be sure. I only costs $10US so it'll be cheap insurance. The only problem is forgetting doing it until it is too late.
I got a few things to cover but I'll leave it off to spare the very few who actually reads this journal... if that.
Also one of the dogs here had pups last month. She had 6 but only 2 survived. And just a couple days ago, one of our cats had 7 kittens and another one is pregnant. Summertime explosion of newborns. Been crazy over here.
Do you have someone else helping you at your lab at work or are you pretty much on your own? Could some of your lengthy projects be turned into team projects (if they're not already)?