Talking with some friends got me thinking about the Summer of 2005. Thinking about that reminded me of a song, which I quickly parodied. There's a lot of inside references here, so don't worry if you can't follow along.
 Summer of '05
I got home by April sixteenth
Deployed for the very last time
Prayed that it would end
It was the summer of 05
Me and some friends were real cool
Had no job but we tried real hard
Jenny quit and Curt got fired
I shoulda known we'd never get bored
Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya - Id always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
Aint no use in complainin
When you got a job to find
Spent my evenins down at the Denny's
And at the Gateway we'd play pool
Riding in Evil John's car
He said that the tree-trimmin was over
Oh and even Chris got tanned
I knew we'd be friends forever
Those were the best days of my life
Back in the summer of 05
Then around winter time
We were no longer jobless
We ended up reassigned
I guess nothin can last forever - forever, no
And now the times are changin
Look at everyone thats up and gone
Sometimes when I play that old pool thing
I wonder if the gang will come along
Riding in Evil John's car
He said that the tree-trimmin was over
Oh and even Chris got tanned
I knew we'd be friends forever
Those were the best days of my life
Back in the summer of 05
PEX Master
i just wanted to say some amazing things about PEX piping. This stuff is simple, and it works. I'm not a marketing guys, but here's some things I love about it:
- Smooth-walls: avoid build up of corrosion
- Flexible: bend it around corners
- Flexible: will expand to 7 times its size (frozen water) without any lasting effects
- Simple connectors: Crimp it down, no glue, torch, or threading needed
- Cheap: 100' costs less than $25 (Zimmerman's/Ace Hardware stores/Lowes)
- Less measuring -- run what you need and cut off the excess
Anywho, I had the opportunity to do some plumbing last week. I had to replace two runs of pipe (hot and cold) running about 13 feet each, with 7 elbows (and small sections) on each pipe. I had a few holes 6"x6" each cut into my wall to see the existing pipes. I left these pipes in place, and did not remove an entire section of wall to do this. I started from the top and pushed the pipe down until I could grab it from the first hole. I repeated this all the way down to the floor, where I had to wiggle the pipe around until I was able to bend it and shove it into the basement.
This process, repeated twice (once for the cold, once for the hot) took me less than 20 minutes to do. Along the way, I eliminated the need for 14 elbows. Then on Saturday, I rented the crimper tool ($10/day; $150 to buy) and crimped the downstairs into place in about 5 minutes. I made a mistake here with the red pipe. I had pulled it down and then crimped the excess. This left me 2" too short up top. The blue pipe had no issues. I spent probably another 10 minutes struggling with the red pipe before giving up and buying an inline coupler for $2. I crimped that to a piece of scrap pipe and had Robin turn on the water. She reported some dripping downstairs at the valve, but up in the ceiling was dry. The dripping downstairs was actually in the metal, threaded, shut-off valves. A bit of cranking with the monkey wrench fixed one, the other seems to have a leak in the older, galvanized pipe. The leak is so small, I'm not going to worry about it (Randy's suggestion: put a cup underneath and use it to water your plants). But I'd say it would have taken less than 10 minutes to crimp it down, turn on the water, and fix the leaks on the threaded pipe, if it hadn't been for my mistake on the red pipe. The entire experience took less than 30 minutes all told.
Robin’s Induction
Robin gets inducted into the honor society at MAC
I’ve had worse, but things are getting better.
So the last several weeks weren't the worst I've had. I've been in some pretty messed up situations before. That being said, the last few weeks sucked. I ran out of oil, so no heat or hot water, my car went on the fritz, Robin wrecked her car, and some new bills started coming my way.
So first let me tell you about the car. I had some bald tires due to a bad alignment, plus the steering was sloppy. I put two new tires on the car (making all 4 new again), then got the axle bushings replaced in the front. Once I got the car back from that, I took it back to the tire shop to get a 4-wheel alignment. With this last bit of work, the entire front end has been completely redone. The axle bushings were the only part of the front end that had never been replaced. I was feeling good about this car -- since 2002, this car has not broken down or stranded me once (with the exception of some bad/cheap tires I put on it back in November popping open on me -- my fault). The next day, the car overheats in front of Wal-Mart and shuts off. I get it off to the side of the road, refill the radiator, put in some sealant, and things run hot, but fine for the next couple weeks.
Two weeks ago, the engine was a decent temperature, I'm driving down 26 and coolant starts spraying all over my hood -- I blew a top hose. As it turns out, the head gasket is blown -- has been for months. I had taken in to my mechanic many months ago complaining about the smoke in the morning. He didn't figure it out, but Clark's Radiator knew right away that the head was dumping coolant into the exhaust system. So while my car will run, only God knows for how long.
So around this time, the temperature drops into the single digits, bringing the overall temperature of my house to 38F, and freezing the pipes going to my bathroom.  I put 10 gallons into the tank to warm up the house, thaw out the pipes, etc. I discover that the pipes going up to my bathroom have not only frozen, but developed a leak.
I, being the super inelligent plumber that I am, punch my way through the wall till I find the leak, cut off the offending piece and take it to Zimmerman's for a replacement. There I am told (in the nicest possible way they can) that I screwed myself over (it's galvanized steel pipe) and will have to replace an 8 foot section of pipe, plus the two elbows piece I have.
Finally, things did start to look up. I got ahold of the guy who's name is on the title of my Jeep and we agree to transfer the title next Saturday. Chuck calls me to tell me where to get some coil springs for that same Jeep. I discover that PEX tubing is the greatest thing to happen to plumbing since the pipe wrench. So I begin my planning, researching and implementing phase.
Along the way, my Dad lets me know that their oven has died and would like some help getting it fixed. I checked it out on Friday and determined I did not have the stuff needed. The wires inside the oven appear to be wrapped in asbestos, not plastic like my wire has.
Saturday, everything comes to a head. In the morning we go up, get the title transferred, registration, and plates needed for the Jeep. I drop Robin off and head home. I get all the pieces I need off of my existing pipes, and the pieces I need from Zimmerman's. While there, I find their appliance wire ($1.29/foot!) and the correct connectors. Randy stops by and helps me get the shut-off valves in place. While Randy is there, the oil man stops by and fills up the tank. Once he's gone, we get the water turned back on, and then I turn on the furnace. I have water! I have heat!
After Randy leaves, I put together the wire for the oven and take it to Mom & Dad's and we get the oven working. Amazingly, I have accomplished four tasks in one day and it all worked.
Cold snap
Monday was the last day of Skyweb installs for me for a month. If things go as I plan, I probably won't be doing any more installs. As I've said before, I'm currently seeking "regular employment" in hopes of funding a few projects I want to bring about.
While the job seeking process is now in full gear, I do have a few projects lined up for February. First off, I'll be taking back the tech support telephone from Greg and doing more work in the shop. I still hope to keep Greg on standby for various reasons, but my days will focus on providing technical support to the multitude of customers.
While I won't be doing installs for Skyweb, I will be planning to work on their towers over the next month. We will be raising up a brand new tower, replacing an existing one, and then put in around 5 higher capacity backbone links. As time permits, I'm sure I'll be doing some service calls and signal checks in the area. However, I do have AJ fully trained to do the installs and some service checks, so as soon as he gets a vehicle with some actual cargo room, he'll be set.
Raystown work continues. There will be people wanting installs there of course, but we also have some tower work coming up and work around the Marina.
To round out the month, several clients have expressed interest in getting me to work on their website, and I have some programming work to hopefully finish up for myself. So while I'll be freeing up 3 days a week, I have a hunch that I'll be filling that "void" rather quickly.
A Tale of H
I was going to call this "A Tale of Two H's", but then I realized that there is a lot more of H going on than I originally realized.
Anyways, since people have asked, the job in Hershey is somewhat up in the air. I got some feedback about it. Essentially, three people left for other jobs during December. I don't know how many were full time and how many were part time, but I know they went and hired one full-time person. They are going to train that person (3 weeks) and then wait a week to see if they need another part time person or not. Which is basically saying "you might get the job, but we're going to see if we get along with what we have."
In the meantime, I've been looking at some other jobs. Finding a "part-time" job is actually pretty hard. Plenty of jobs are available for full time, with good pay and benefits.  Some of these jobs look very promising and are well within my skill set. However, none of them really match what I'm looking for quite yet. However, I did find a wonderful job in Hagerstown. This is a full time position. However, unlike the Hershey job, the job description looks like something I can keep interested in for a long time. The pay is also very good (it starts at a rate that I would expect to get after working at one company for 5+ years). I applied last week, and spoke with their "recruiter" today. They are reviewing the resumes and will be scheduling interviews early next week. He let me know that my resume was definitely "in the loop", so if I understand him correctly, I should have my interview next week sometime. He also said that they need to fill the position soon (and they need more than one person in this position). I'm a bit excited about that.. out of the other jobs I looked at, this is one I really feel I would enjoy working.
If I get the Hagerstown job, I'll end up closing my shop for a few months until I can resolve my schedule and get things back on track. I'll still be able to take care of my existing clients over the weekends, and if I get a 4-day work schedule (or, while I'm dreaming, a 3-day) I'll be able to have another day for them. Plus, I think I'd be ready to hire someone to work for me.
Ghosts of the Past
For those of you that don't know -- I live by myself. Now that winter truly seems to be here, I have only been heating the living room in my house (with a space heater). The living room has become my office, my bedroom, and my changing room. This one room stays between 65F and 70F while rest of the house seems to hold around 49F.
Anyways, I came home tonight and went up to my living room/office to do some work on the computer. I'm designing a mysql database for a recurring/real-time ISP billing system that I am writing when my gaim pops up and this "ann" is messaging me. I am dumbfounded as to who it could be. She obviously knows me, but how do I know her? Slowly, it hits me. This is Minnesota Ann! Actually, I thought it was Missouri Ann (I get those M states confused all the time), but she soon set me straight. But let me tell you about Minnesota Ann. Ann is "my first". By that, I mean she is the first person that I met online that I talked to more than once. I met her on IRCNet in either late '97 or early '98. She introduced me to Skeletor1/Mike and #cool_teens. She was the first girl I ever knew that had a bot.
I've talked with Ann many more times over the years. Somewhere in '02, I stopped getting on IRC as much, but we still messaged each other through AIM and related networks, occasional emails. But I would say I haven't truly heard from her in about 3-4 years. She had changed her screen name. But she found my site off of Mike's new site (she talks regularly with Mike), read my blog, and sent me a message out of the blue.
Talking to her again brought back many memories. I almost want to hop back on IRC again (even though neither of us are still on). Now let's think about this. I first registered sqbnet.net with InterNIC in '98. My first post on here was in '99 telling people about my joining the USMC. There were more posts since then, but I ended up loosing them in '02 through my own fumbling. I've had the same screen name (squegie) since 1997. I've been "Squegie T. Sanest" for 10 years. I am ancient according to Internet time.
Ann has has the same email address since '98. Mine has shifted around. I had [email protected] and still do since '01. I now use [email protected] and probably will for the rest of my natural life. My snail mail address stayed the same from '01 to '06. My phone number has remained the same from '00 through now. With LNP, it will probably stay with me until the phone number structure changes. I find myself amazed at the number of things that have changed since I was 15, and the number of things that have stuck around.
I invite anyone that's known me for a long time, or even if you've just been reading this site for a while, or anyone really to post a comment on here for me to read. If we haven't talked in a while, I'd love to hear from you. Post a comment, send an IM, or even send me an email. If you're really up to it, give me a phone call.