Off to Waco

Well, friends, I’m flying down to the sprawling metropolis of Waco, Texas, Saturday morning for a big Mr. Appliance meeting. I’ll learn the subtle art of commercial refrigeration door gasket fabrication and replacement. Also, Whirlpool factory reps will be there to teach us repair procedures on the Calypso washer and the Duet washer and dryers. I’ll be back Thursday night, all brainified on commercial refrigeration gaskets and the latest Whirlpool equipment.

Although I haven’t posted all week, I’ve been busy behind the scenes with all sorts of web projects. By far the biggest project was helping my good friend, Hodji, move his cafe from the Cool Stuff page on my website to his new home at his very own website. Stop by and say hello. Congratulations, Hodji!

After trying several blog commenting systems, I finally settled on the current one (if you don’t know what a blog is, check out blogger.com for more info). All the other systems I tried were java-script-based–slick, but they made the homepage load too slow. So I went with the current non-java system–not as slick but it allows comments without dragging the system. Look for the little links at the bottom of each entry, on that says add comments and another that says read comments. Check it out, let’s hear from you!

Had to work out some bugs on the newly-installed Idya text-based advertising system. It’s Arnab’s brainchild and he was a great help in getting it going. It’s working great and I highly recommend it for your website.

Finally, Ezboard, the host of the Samurai School of Appliantology, installed a major upgrade to their system and, as you’d expect with any major upgrade, there where some wrinkles that had to be ironed out. It’s working well now and has some slick new features, too, like a built-in chat room, forum profile, active members list, and hottest topics list. Check it out!

I won’t be able to do live help or get on Yahoo Messenger at all while I’m down in Waco but I’ll still be able to answer questions in the forum each day and maybe even do some blog posts live from Waco! Ok, talk to you later.

Comprehending Engineers – Take Three

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?

Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets.

Comprehending Engineers – Take Two

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. (Safety factor of 2)

Comprehending Engineers – Take One

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, “Where did you get such a great bike?” The second engineer replied, “Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, “Take what you want.” The first engineer nodded approvingly, “Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn’t have fit.”

Hillstomping Update: The Adirondacks Trip

Well, for all my big talk about bagging all those peaks, we ended up only bagging one. The hiking trip to the Adirondacks turned into more of a camping trip since the summits were immersed in clouds. We camped the first night in the Garden parking lot and then headed down the John’s Brook trail by the dawn’s early light, seven easy miles to the Slant Rock area where we made camp for the night. It was chilly, drizzly, and uniformly overcast that day and the next, too. When we climbed up Mt. Marcy the next day, we were right smack in the middle of a cloud with visibility of about 50 feet. Since there was nothing to see from any of the high peaks, there was no point in climbing any more of them so we broke camp and hiked on out. Back in town, we purchased adult beverages and camped out at Marcy Field where we built a raging inferno, imbibed liberally on fermented grain beverages, and ate MREs.

Miscellaneous trip notes:

• Crossing Lake Champlain on the ferry is always a pleasant experience. The ferries are well-run by friendly crews and very economical at only $13.50 round trip.
• We met the hut master at the Johns Brook Lodge, a cynical fat guy who loved to hear himself complain about cynical fat guests.
• At the Bushnell Falls lean-to, there were five older guys from Ohio staying there when we passed it on the way to Slant Rock. One guy had an enormous hairy beer belly that hung over his waist with a giant scar that ran down the length of his belly and flacid, droopy teets to complete the picture of health. Another one was smitten by Ouzo, my German Shepherd hiking bud, and we stopped to chat for a moment. As we were leaving, I noticed wads of white toilet paper in the woods in front of the lean-to. Not 50 feet up the trail from the lean-to was the outhouse. These guys either didn’t know the outhouse was there or they enjoyed taking dumps directly on the forest floor in full view of the lean-to. I think I now see why Ohio is called the Buckeye state.
• German Short-Haired Pointers are the most neurotic dogs I’ve ever seen.
• The AMC is a superior mountain club to the ADK. I think this is probably due to the AMC’s prominence in its domain, the White Mountains, where it works in partnership with the USFS to educate hikers on the wise stewardship of the land. The ADK, on the other hand, is forced to play a subordinate, peripheral role in the Adirondacks to a heavy-handed state regulatory agency, the NY DEC, whose keyword is “mandate” rather than “educate.” For example, in the White Mountains, the AMC teaches that dogs should be on a leash or otherwise under control. A good-tempered dog obedient to verbal commands is under control and it’s left to the owner to make the final decision on whether or not his dog should be leashed. The NY DEC, on the other hand, mandates that dogs must be leashed at all times with threats of rangers patrolling and slapping you with a $50 fine. This basic mistrust of the individual to make the right decision is the cultural keynote for New York. Where New York has legions of bureaucrats sitting around spewing out Rulz, New Hampshire prefers to give the individual good information and then trust that they’ll make the right decision. New York relies heavily on government action; New Hampshire relies on volunteerism and cooperative action. The Adirondacks would be a great place to hike except for that thing around it called New York.
• But New York almost totally redeems itself with its flagship product, Genesee beer. You can still purchase this fine light-bodied beer for only three bucks a six-pack at the Stewart Shop in Keene Valley, NY–a real treat for the quantity beer drinker.

Gone Hiking

Heading out to the Adirondacks today for a backpacking trip. I’ll be meeting up with a couple of buds from PA. The K-9 unit and I will camp in the van at the trail head tonight waiting for Dave and Bob, who should be there around midnight. Tomorrow morning we’ll all hit the trail, face-first and screaming, all the way to the lean-to. We’ll set up base camp and, over the next three days, bag all the high peaks of the Adirondacks: Mt. Marcy (5344′), Mt. Skylight (4926′), Mt. Haystack (4960′), Basin Mtn.(4827′), Saddleback Mtn. (4515′), The Gothics (4736′), Mt. Armstrong (4400′), and Upper Wolfjaw Mtn. (4185′). We’ll hike out on Sunday and I shall once again be firmly ensconced in Mrs. Samurai’s strong but very womanly arms by late Sunday night or the wee hours of Monday morning.

I’ll spend this morning doing last-minute packing and head out around noon for the four-hour drive to the trail head. If you need appliance repair help while I’m out on the trail, call me toll-free on my cell phone at 1-800-GET-LOST. Or you could go ahead and post your question in the forum and one of the other fine gurus will help you.

Live Help Poll

So, I’m wondering about offering live help anymore at Fixitnow.com. Seems like there’s enough personal help with the forum, Yahoo Messenger, the Appliantology Group, etc. I just don’t know how useful live help is with all those other forms of communications available. So, I turn to you, my gentle grasshoppers, to help me decide. Tell me what you think works best. Won’t you spare me a second or two of your boredom while you’re stuck there at work and come answer this poll on live help? Mucho domo’s.

Commoonications Update

Ok, I finally broke down and installed Yahoo Messenger. My handle is zenzoidman. I also added that spiffy whatchahoozit to the homepage that tells whether I’m on- or off-line. Not only does it tell whether I’m on-line or not, but you can click it to send me messages. Big Brother meets Big Yahoo.

Live Help Update

More changes are brewing here at Fixitnow.com. This time it’s live help. Currently, I’m using Live Person to offer live help to users. I wouldn’t mind the $700/year cost for the service if it weren’t so glitchy. So, I’ll be phasing out the Live Person system in favor of the free chat room in The Appliantology Group. You have to join The Appliantology Group to access the chat room, but membership is free.

Also, instead of posting the live help hours here on this page as I’ve been doing, I’ll post them in The Appliantology Group calendar. So, for example, if you go the calendar for today, you’ll see an entry that live help is being held in the Appliantology chat room from 3-5pm. It’s pretty cool. And, so far, it’s all free, too. I got a feeling the days of the free ride on the web are coming to an end, maybe including the free stuff at this website, too. Later days, brah.

Brain Drain

Just got back from a three-day section hike on the NH Appalachian Trail with my K-9 hiking bud, Ouzo. Found out that EZBoard, the host for the Samurai School of Appliantology, has been dead in the water for the past couple of days. They’re back up now.

The backpacking trip I just returned from was a trial run for my four-day backpacking trip next week in the Adirondacks with a couple of friends from PA. Since I want to take the K-9 on that trip, I needed to see how he’d do in backpacking life…and how I would do carrying the extra food needed to keep him alive. Both of us did just fine. In fact, Ouzo didn’t even want to come home. He’s slinking around the house wishing he was back on the trail.

For your reading pleasure, here are some pearls from the trail gleaned from this last trip:

• Of all things to be caught without, toilet paper should not be one of them. It’s light enough that you won’t be overly burdened by carrying a little more than you think you need.
• Wet wipes kick ass! Especially the red ass.
• Carrying a backup pair of skivvies is wise. Carrying a backup to the backup pair is inspired.
• Carry a backup source of light to your LED headlamp–the mountains get dark very early and the nights are long. Good choices for backups are a candle or cyalume sticks.
• The first night out is always the most difficult for sleeping. Carry a sleeping aid. Vodka works well.
• A robust coffee substitute: Add two bags of Celestial Seasonings Island Maté Spice tea and one bag of Twinings English Breakfast tea to a half quart kettle of water just brought to a boil. Steep for seven minutes. Keep toilet pack handy.

More on the planned Adirondack expedition in an upcoming Hillstomping Update. Don’t touch that dial!