You know, if you're going to screw up a first impression, it is probably best to make a mess of it with people who you'll never see again.
A long time ago I decided to try my hand as a car salesperson. Now that in itself is material for many other posts, including the things that led up to the hare-brained decision of trying that career.
Anyway, any city will find itself with a large array of caryards and combined with a reasonably high churn in staff, means that there are plenty of openings for someone new to enter into the industry. In my case, I had quite a few applications out there, and eager to get to my first interview, I was up early and all set to go. Caryards open at 8am, though not because of the eagerness of customers, but due to the various activities that go with getting ready for the day. It also tends to mean that yard managers like to get interviews done early in the morning before sales opportunities begin to take precedence.
I worked my way through traffic to get to the yard in time for the interview. Checked my documents, proof of sales license, tie and business shirt, then strolled in to the showroom to find the manager who I'd be meeting.
The bright administration girl greeted me, then was a little stumped when I told her about my pending interview.
I repeated the name of the manager I was supposed to be meeting, and just as she asked me to wait so she could run around to ask if a manager of that name was there, that was when I realised I'd made an embarrassing mistake.
I was at the wrong caryard.
In my process of getting ready for the interview and making sure I was on time, I hadn't double checked the specific yard that I was heading out to.
Of course, by this time, there was beginning to be a small gathering of sales people, admin staff and their existing managers as they all tried to work out what was going on and who I was. Red faced and apologetic, I excused myself to make a phone call to the correct yard and explain to the interviewing manager why I wasn't there. He had a good sense of humour, had a laugh, and gave me another shot at the interview the next day.
In terms of the people at the first car yard? Well they did have my application on file for a job opening that they had as well, but seeing as I'd made a monkey of myself there, it was no surprise that they never called me in for a real interview. I think my unexpected audition had told them everything they needed.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Capital Punishment
I'm slowly learning to force myself to proofread posts prior to posting them. My first draft on this topic was less informed than this one, as I hadn't actually read much on the internet in terms of what arguments are commonly presented against Capital Punishment. Hopefully this time around I come across as more thoughtful.
First up, I should set the tone; I am for Capital Punishment, but I wanted to know more about why people oppose it as I'm open to hearing more and I'm not against being educated. Now I thought a good reasoned website would be Amnesty International. They're a huge human rights campaigner and they've been around for quite some time. So I had high expectations from them, you can read their posts http://www.amnesty.org.au/adp.
Reading through through some of the arguments in Amnesty International and other sites such as www.antideathpenalty.org, I think that quite a number of the arguments are flawed. Here are a couple of reasons why:
First up, I should set the tone; I am for Capital Punishment, but I wanted to know more about why people oppose it as I'm open to hearing more and I'm not against being educated. Now I thought a good reasoned website would be Amnesty International. They're a huge human rights campaigner and they've been around for quite some time. So I had high expectations from them, you can read their posts http://www.amnesty.org.au/adp.
Reading through through some of the arguments in Amnesty International and other sites such as www.antideathpenalty.org, I think that quite a number of the arguments are flawed. Here are a couple of reasons why:
- In most cases, victim impact is hardly touched. I can kind of understand why, as it is such a complex and difficult topic to handle. But there is no denying that violent crime, and this is not just limited to homicide, has huge immeasurable impacts that last a lifetime to the victim and the victim's family.
- Often people compare USA against other western countries that don't have the death penalty and use that as their sole comparison of homicide statistics and death penalty. Now that is just gross simplification. These sorts of comparisons are way too complex to present in such a simple fashion, and in particular to handle so glibly by using a single country (USA) as a reference point. By Amnesty International's own webpages (http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries) about 20% of the countries in the world actively support and practice the death penalty. About another 20% support it by law, but aren't actively practising it. So shouldn't there be more detailed comparisons against are broader range of countried? And shouldn't those comparisons account for education levels, economic conditions, availability of guns, and other indicators that could be considered to have bearing on violent crime?
- Kind of related to the point above, but a lot of sites use the Canada crime statistics to support abolishing the death penalty. Their argument is that since 1975, homicide has dropped 40%, and the death penalty was abolished in 1976. The problems with this argument are again that they are ignoring all other factors, but secondly, the USA has also seen a drop in homicide rates over the same period. Not as great, but a drop nonetheless. An interesting book that touches on this issue is Freakonomics written by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, where one of the things he looks at is the recorded drop in homicide and general crime over this period, and his reasons why. Part of the difference is that he provides numbers and facts to support his theories, which I find more persuasive than organisations which just present a correlation without justifying why they have linked a cause and analysis.
- A number of webpages use the argument that "several countries have already abolished it" as a supporting argument against capital punishment, but that is like saying "majority of people are trending to obesity" so that makes it suitable to shift the ideal weight in health guidelines. It is illogical to purely use majority or trend as a justification to the morality or effectiveness of an activity.
- The argument of false convictions pertaining to those sentenced with Capital Punishment is not so much an argument against the punishment itself, but highlighting a need to change workings of the justice system itself, including the qualifications of government appointed defence attorneys.
Social Sciences n00b
I miss my sunglasses too much.
Maybe I was on some sort of weird emotional bender, or maybe my brief spurt of optimism has run dry without any psychological stamina to handle the magnitude of the task I set for myself (see An impossible ideal). The whole thing about trying to somehow connect with people on the train and the bus just seems ridiculous now in hindsight. People don't want to be vulnerable to strangers during the fleeting encounters while in transit so whatever ideal I was thinking of was just going against the current of a river that is too big.
So the sunglasses are back, and my local library just got in a new novel from Terry Pratchett, "Long Earth". My head will be buried in that during my commute for the next few days.
Maybe I was on some sort of weird emotional bender, or maybe my brief spurt of optimism has run dry without any psychological stamina to handle the magnitude of the task I set for myself (see An impossible ideal). The whole thing about trying to somehow connect with people on the train and the bus just seems ridiculous now in hindsight. People don't want to be vulnerable to strangers during the fleeting encounters while in transit so whatever ideal I was thinking of was just going against the current of a river that is too big.
So the sunglasses are back, and my local library just got in a new novel from Terry Pratchett, "Long Earth". My head will be buried in that during my commute for the next few days.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Some people...
You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your relatives. Tragically you don't get much choice in your work colleagues either. Sure, if there's something particularly bad then you can quit or transfer internally if the company is large enough. But if your industry is in a rough economic patch, or maybe too lazy to switch jobs, then you could be in for some interesting times.
The company I work for does software, and they employ a person as the build/release manager. If you're not sure what that means, essentially think of them as the person who provides a quality control factory environment for the software. He ensures that it is labelled clearly, so that if there are any problems it can be traced to a date and easily audited. Its an important role in any software company that wants to be commercially viable.
I used to do that role, but then yearned to hop the fence, so they went through a couple of people in trying to fill the role and currently have a young man who is here on a working visa from Italy.
Where this guy gets interesting is in his style of communication, and as a person who used to do that role, I've had a lot to do with his orientation and ramp up with our tools. In addition, my current role also means that I also interact with him on an ongoing basis with further work and refinements.
He seems to know his stuff, but the problems I have are:
But I believe in a certain amount of professionalism and that people should do their job to the best of their ability with a sense of pride that they are achieving a service or goal with all their colleagues. Maybe I'm naive.
Anyway, in the two years that I've worked with this guy, the two ways he has managed to lose all my respect is:
In preparation of the possibility of him leaving, we asked whether he would document his work in case we have to transition, or have someone cover him temporarily, and his reply to that was that he didn't have much to write down, and people would pretty much work it out.
So now I find myself kinda torn. Finding people to fill this sort of role in the corner of Australia is a little hard, and can take months before you get a suitable applicant. If we get someone new who has to decipher what this guy has left behind, then that could be a month or two of headaches in itself. Yet on the flipside, I am done with this guy and really don't see it being in the company's long term interests for him to stay on.
Il tempo per voi di lasciare, amico.
The company I work for does software, and they employ a person as the build/release manager. If you're not sure what that means, essentially think of them as the person who provides a quality control factory environment for the software. He ensures that it is labelled clearly, so that if there are any problems it can be traced to a date and easily audited. Its an important role in any software company that wants to be commercially viable.
I used to do that role, but then yearned to hop the fence, so they went through a couple of people in trying to fill the role and currently have a young man who is here on a working visa from Italy.
Where this guy gets interesting is in his style of communication, and as a person who used to do that role, I've had a lot to do with his orientation and ramp up with our tools. In addition, my current role also means that I also interact with him on an ongoing basis with further work and refinements.
He seems to know his stuff, but the problems I have are:
- He doesn't listen. The number of times I find myself repeating myself to this guy, or referencing emails I sent to him earlier that day is crazy. But maybe it is a learning style, and reading isn't his thing.
- He doesn't seem to care about the company.
But I believe in a certain amount of professionalism and that people should do their job to the best of their ability with a sense of pride that they are achieving a service or goal with all their colleagues. Maybe I'm naive.
Anyway, in the two years that I've worked with this guy, the two ways he has managed to lose all my respect is:
- In a discussion about a change in process, he loudly sided continuously with another team member who was against the changes, but could provide no reasons or justifications why he felt that way, other than my original proposal would mean more work for him. When we proposed an alternative where we would take care of that work on his behalf, he still objected to the changes. I have nothing against him objecting, and his role meant that he should have valid, well formed input to this item, but objecting without a logical reason? That isn't cool. At least the other team member had his technical reasons for why he was against it.
- He recently encountered an issue where his working visa almost lapsed. He wouldn't have to leave the country, as he would be able to switch to a tourist visa while he addressed the working visa issue, but it would mean that we would have to suspend his employment legally, until it was sorted. We had a mass of confusion because he didn't explain this to the rest of the team properly, most of us thought he was intentionally leaving the company. When asked if he was leaving, his response was "if something better comes up". We had to go to HR to get the full story.
In preparation of the possibility of him leaving, we asked whether he would document his work in case we have to transition, or have someone cover him temporarily, and his reply to that was that he didn't have much to write down, and people would pretty much work it out.
So now I find myself kinda torn. Finding people to fill this sort of role in the corner of Australia is a little hard, and can take months before you get a suitable applicant. If we get someone new who has to decipher what this guy has left behind, then that could be a month or two of headaches in itself. Yet on the flipside, I am done with this guy and really don't see it being in the company's long term interests for him to stay on.
Il tempo per voi di lasciare, amico.
Friday, 22 November 2013
North Korea
I have nothing personal to add about that country as I have not even been to an adjacent country, let alone North Korea itself. I've also never personally met any North Koreans. Closest is a South Korean who attends my church, and she herself has no real knowledge of what goes on in that country. Not sure if anyone does.
But a couple of years ago I came across an interesting blog from a couple of europeans who took a train trip from western Europe through to North Korea. They wrote about the train trip, and they are really into their trains, and have a stack of photos from the entire experience as well. Its a fascinating journey to read, but make sure you keep a few hours set aside for the experience.
Vienna to Pyongyang
I find it interesting that the Wikipedia article on the first Kim (Kim Il-sung) to begin communist North Korea, mentions that he reported he was the son of a Protestant minister. He must have held some deep seated resentment for Christians as they're now automatically considered traitors to the state.
But a couple of years ago I came across an interesting blog from a couple of europeans who took a train trip from western Europe through to North Korea. They wrote about the train trip, and they are really into their trains, and have a stack of photos from the entire experience as well. Its a fascinating journey to read, but make sure you keep a few hours set aside for the experience.
Vienna to Pyongyang
I find it interesting that the Wikipedia article on the first Kim (Kim Il-sung) to begin communist North Korea, mentions that he reported he was the son of a Protestant minister. He must have held some deep seated resentment for Christians as they're now automatically considered traitors to the state.
Egg on face
Man, what a rollercoaster the past few days at the office have been. One of the exciting aspects of my job is dealing with people's fault reports. I work as a software developer providing tools and support for a software test automation team at the company I work for.
So alot of my job is creating tools, and making ammendments, in order to have software automatically testing software. Kinda sounds like the build up in plot for some sci-fi horror story.
Anyway, things occassionally don't work as planned. Sometimes I make a change to a tool and it breaks something else, sometimes I don't understand what they originally needed and I need to make changes to the behaviour. All up it means that I need to understand them, but I almost never understand them on the first try of any issue. This is actually normal for people talking about complex topics in relation to unexpected technical situations.
Where this whole arrangement baffles me sometimes is that it is the test teams' job, their specialty, a core part of what they do each day, is communicate about unexpected things to other people. For example, when they determine a way which causes a system to fail, they then need to clearly and concisely report to the original software developrs about what they did, what happened, and how to accurately reproduce the issue.
I've spent large chunks of the past four days locked in a tense standoff with one of the testers who I couldn't understand the details of her problem. She's a bright lady and hard working, but perhaps tiredness and frustration at the issue meant that on this occassion she was not inclined to go into much detail. So I was left guessing and trying to pick up pieces from other sources. That did not go well.
I ended up with a situation of providing a resolution for her that was part right and wrong. The problem was she didn't want the solution, because it only partly worked, but also she wanted something now that would fix the issue without her having to make any changes. Of course this aggravated me as there was no logical way to achieve what she wanted.
Managers got involved, answers and solutions were demanded to be provided in short time frames, and in my rushing around to make things happen, I made some mistakes and assumptions because I didn't do proper checks before presenting results.
End of the day, I achieved a good solution, but managed to also confuse and mislead a few people on the way. Weeks like that have me looking forward to friday night drinks. I need something to wash this egg off.
So alot of my job is creating tools, and making ammendments, in order to have software automatically testing software. Kinda sounds like the build up in plot for some sci-fi horror story.
Anyway, things occassionally don't work as planned. Sometimes I make a change to a tool and it breaks something else, sometimes I don't understand what they originally needed and I need to make changes to the behaviour. All up it means that I need to understand them, but I almost never understand them on the first try of any issue. This is actually normal for people talking about complex topics in relation to unexpected technical situations.
Where this whole arrangement baffles me sometimes is that it is the test teams' job, their specialty, a core part of what they do each day, is communicate about unexpected things to other people. For example, when they determine a way which causes a system to fail, they then need to clearly and concisely report to the original software developrs about what they did, what happened, and how to accurately reproduce the issue.
I've spent large chunks of the past four days locked in a tense standoff with one of the testers who I couldn't understand the details of her problem. She's a bright lady and hard working, but perhaps tiredness and frustration at the issue meant that on this occassion she was not inclined to go into much detail. So I was left guessing and trying to pick up pieces from other sources. That did not go well.
I ended up with a situation of providing a resolution for her that was part right and wrong. The problem was she didn't want the solution, because it only partly worked, but also she wanted something now that would fix the issue without her having to make any changes. Of course this aggravated me as there was no logical way to achieve what she wanted.
Managers got involved, answers and solutions were demanded to be provided in short time frames, and in my rushing around to make things happen, I made some mistakes and assumptions because I didn't do proper checks before presenting results.
End of the day, I achieved a good solution, but managed to also confuse and mislead a few people on the way. Weeks like that have me looking forward to friday night drinks. I need something to wash this egg off.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Yee haa
Fooling around with Blogger has been interesting. I've heard about all the things you can do to track popularity and viewing stats so that authors can keep track of their popularity and also try to gauge who are their main audiences.
I just noticed I can see what countries some of my hits are coming from, and I'm getting a bunch from USA. I don't know how that works as I'm pretty sure I unselected the option to make this page visible to Google, so I'm guessing a couple of my friends are using something to hide their IP.
But just in case; greetings uncle Sam.
I just noticed I can see what countries some of my hits are coming from, and I'm getting a bunch from USA. I don't know how that works as I'm pretty sure I unselected the option to make this page visible to Google, so I'm guessing a couple of my friends are using something to hide their IP.
But just in case; greetings uncle Sam.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Should I go public?
I guess its that desire for a little bit of fame. Perhaps jealousy of other blogs sites that have become quite popular and the curiosity about whether I could achieve the same heady heights of fame. But every now and then, I wonder whether I should set my blog to be visible to blog searches on this website, and even to appearing for corresponding Google searches.
But then there is one thing that holds me back, and that is the knowledge of what a portion of the vocal users of the internet are like. You hear of the nonsense that comes out of flame wars on twitter, the abusive comments that get made in people's blogs, and even on mainstream commercial news sites things can get unpleasant. And it doesn't even have to be the expression of a difference of opinion, there are individuals out there who will say things because they seem to enjoy seeing the reaction.
I know that in terms of the vast majority of people in the world, and even in terms of that smaller set of people who do actively engage in leaving comments on pages, it is a tiny minority who are offensive for the sake of it. Yet the whole adage of:
"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"
Seems to be rather shallow, especially if you weren't expecting a personal attack.
A couple of webcomics I really enjoy reading, have made comments on a few occassions how they have struggled with some of the content that people have posted as comments. In many cases it wasn't that the commenter was intended to be outright malicious, but perhaps they forgot that the author was providing their artwork and storytelling free of charge, with nothing asked of in return. And some of these artists are really very good, investing a lot of time to create remarkable illustrated stories for the free enjoyment of readers.
Anyway, all this leads up to me realising that no. No, I'm keeping this private as its just to develop my communication and also stay in touch with the people that I know. And its ok if you guys say something mean as I know where you live, heh heh heh.
But then there is one thing that holds me back, and that is the knowledge of what a portion of the vocal users of the internet are like. You hear of the nonsense that comes out of flame wars on twitter, the abusive comments that get made in people's blogs, and even on mainstream commercial news sites things can get unpleasant. And it doesn't even have to be the expression of a difference of opinion, there are individuals out there who will say things because they seem to enjoy seeing the reaction.
I know that in terms of the vast majority of people in the world, and even in terms of that smaller set of people who do actively engage in leaving comments on pages, it is a tiny minority who are offensive for the sake of it. Yet the whole adage of:
"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"
Seems to be rather shallow, especially if you weren't expecting a personal attack.
A couple of webcomics I really enjoy reading, have made comments on a few occassions how they have struggled with some of the content that people have posted as comments. In many cases it wasn't that the commenter was intended to be outright malicious, but perhaps they forgot that the author was providing their artwork and storytelling free of charge, with nothing asked of in return. And some of these artists are really very good, investing a lot of time to create remarkable illustrated stories for the free enjoyment of readers.
Anyway, all this leads up to me realising that no. No, I'm keeping this private as its just to develop my communication and also stay in touch with the people that I know. And its ok if you guys say something mean as I know where you live, heh heh heh.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
An impossible ideal
You've probably been around people who have lamented the fact that there seems a little less community now compared to the past. That on the bus and train, everyone has their head buried in the phone or tablet, or have their ears stuffed with headphones pumping out music, isolated themselves from each other.
I've wondered about this from time to time, whether it really can change. Alot of the people who wish for change may be perhaps forgetting that there wasn't just the absence of the current portable technology, but the city used to be a lot smaller and attitudes were different a couple of generations ago. Now, it is rare that I bump into someone I know, even though there are about 20 people who I know from work, my church, or just family friends who share much of my regular commute. The buses are larger, the trains are longer, there are more people, and the trip is over fairly quickly. You also don't know if the person next to you is going to flip out or just ignore you. In the end, most people just want to get home.
What am I going to talk to the stranger next to me about? And what do I know of what they are going through? My skateboard has been an item that has opened up a few instances of conversations with strangers but the conversation is stifled in many ways because the stop to get off for one of us arrives, or perhaps my mind was off somewhere else with the long list of things to prepare for other commitments and I really wasn't engaged for conversation.
Part of me likes the idea of a fantasy world where, instead of people with bad posture, sore necks and lousy hearing, there instead are people who greet each other with a "Whassup?" and chin wag about the weather and other pleasantries.
But the other part of me is honestly not sure I could face that all the time. How much meaningless conversation with strangers do I want to have, that will just get thrown away due the low chance of crossing paths again? Do I want to get into more deep and personal issues with a stranger to have a more meaningful conversation when time is quite limited with the fairly rapid links in transport?
Maybe it all seems daunting because we are thinking about how far it is to go to achieve this ideal. I remember one morning on the train I saw a friend's wife site down across from me. I smiled and waved to get her attention but her first reaction was to wonder who is this thug trying to get her attention. Once she worked out it was me, she told me that with the headphones, sunglasses, baseball cap and jacket, I was not a friendly image at all. Not only did I not look like a person she'd want to talk to, but she was initially freaked out when this person approached her.
So I'm leaving the baseball caps at home, and trying to stop wearing the sunglasses when I'm in the train. I'll look to have a ready smile and be polite, and hopefully I can inch my way to not being part of the reason that strangers don't make eye contact anymore.
I've wondered about this from time to time, whether it really can change. Alot of the people who wish for change may be perhaps forgetting that there wasn't just the absence of the current portable technology, but the city used to be a lot smaller and attitudes were different a couple of generations ago. Now, it is rare that I bump into someone I know, even though there are about 20 people who I know from work, my church, or just family friends who share much of my regular commute. The buses are larger, the trains are longer, there are more people, and the trip is over fairly quickly. You also don't know if the person next to you is going to flip out or just ignore you. In the end, most people just want to get home.
What am I going to talk to the stranger next to me about? And what do I know of what they are going through? My skateboard has been an item that has opened up a few instances of conversations with strangers but the conversation is stifled in many ways because the stop to get off for one of us arrives, or perhaps my mind was off somewhere else with the long list of things to prepare for other commitments and I really wasn't engaged for conversation.
Part of me likes the idea of a fantasy world where, instead of people with bad posture, sore necks and lousy hearing, there instead are people who greet each other with a "Whassup?" and chin wag about the weather and other pleasantries.
But the other part of me is honestly not sure I could face that all the time. How much meaningless conversation with strangers do I want to have, that will just get thrown away due the low chance of crossing paths again? Do I want to get into more deep and personal issues with a stranger to have a more meaningful conversation when time is quite limited with the fairly rapid links in transport?
Maybe it all seems daunting because we are thinking about how far it is to go to achieve this ideal. I remember one morning on the train I saw a friend's wife site down across from me. I smiled and waved to get her attention but her first reaction was to wonder who is this thug trying to get her attention. Once she worked out it was me, she told me that with the headphones, sunglasses, baseball cap and jacket, I was not a friendly image at all. Not only did I not look like a person she'd want to talk to, but she was initially freaked out when this person approached her.
So I'm leaving the baseball caps at home, and trying to stop wearing the sunglasses when I'm in the train. I'll look to have a ready smile and be polite, and hopefully I can inch my way to not being part of the reason that strangers don't make eye contact anymore.
Monday, 18 November 2013
No post today
Well, no real post.
I thought I had a topic on stumbling into conversations part way, and how taken out of context some things can really give the wrong impression. In my case, on my way to get a cup of tea at the office, a group of guys were talking about a recent video game, GTA V, but I only learned it was in regards to the game later on. The part I overheard sounded as though they were casually talking about a guy they all knew, and having unintentionally met up with him while he was in a compromising activity.
But I'm stuck on how to write this up.
It's an interesting experience, and most people probably have been in that situation of coming into a conversation part way, and thought it was about something else. Its even funnier if you join the conversation and proceed along the lines of your misconception, with everyone else not understanding what you're on about.
In my case this was more about my prudish side kicking in, with my ideas of what really is, and isn't, appropriate for conversation out loud in a workplace. Being in software engineering firm, video games come up alot, and as they're entertainment orientated, many video games are constantly seeking to appeal to our basest desires.
So I have nothing to write really about this, other than it possibly makes me seem prudish to others. But I think its not a bad thing. I'm not closed minded to new ideas or discussions about points of view, but I just have a sense that behaviour and conversations should have certain sensibilities.
Don't you?
I thought I had a topic on stumbling into conversations part way, and how taken out of context some things can really give the wrong impression. In my case, on my way to get a cup of tea at the office, a group of guys were talking about a recent video game, GTA V, but I only learned it was in regards to the game later on. The part I overheard sounded as though they were casually talking about a guy they all knew, and having unintentionally met up with him while he was in a compromising activity.
But I'm stuck on how to write this up.
It's an interesting experience, and most people probably have been in that situation of coming into a conversation part way, and thought it was about something else. Its even funnier if you join the conversation and proceed along the lines of your misconception, with everyone else not understanding what you're on about.
In my case this was more about my prudish side kicking in, with my ideas of what really is, and isn't, appropriate for conversation out loud in a workplace. Being in software engineering firm, video games come up alot, and as they're entertainment orientated, many video games are constantly seeking to appeal to our basest desires.
So I have nothing to write really about this, other than it possibly makes me seem prudish to others. But I think its not a bad thing. I'm not closed minded to new ideas or discussions about points of view, but I just have a sense that behaviour and conversations should have certain sensibilities.
Don't you?
Thursday, 14 November 2013
TL;DR
H-uh... I just found out what that means: too long; didn't read.
If my posts ever feel like that, please let me know.
Man down, man down!!
Many years ago, I'd been in Chicago with a group of other work colleagues, and we happened to be there in the middle of their winter. So on the weekend we decided to try our hand at skiing. The area we were staying at, was way out on the northern fringes of greater Chicago, and there had to be some small hills in the suburbs that doubled as mini-ski slopes. The one we went to was not much more than a bunny slope and then a slightly large hill which had a 2min gentle chair lift to the top. It really was tiny. In the summer, the larger hill would have only taken a 5min stroll to get to the top.
Anyway quite a few us hadn't skied before, and as we weren't interested in paying for an instructor, we had myself and one other guy looking to teach the basics of snowplough and turning to the four others. We must have spent about an hour going up and down the bunny slope, building confidence and ability. Finally we got to the stage where everyone was keen to move on and try the larger slope.
The slope wasn't complex, basically the larger hill and the bunny slope were side by side pointing down in the same direction. So we were just going to head down to the bottom of the bunny slope, and then steer a little left towards where the ski lift started that would take us up. So we went down in two groups, myself with two learners and the other guy with the other two.
We all arrived and were joining the lift queue when someone asked: "where's Caryn?"
No one knew where she'd gotten to, but the second group was sure she'd been right with them, and that's when we saw a group of people gathering around near a cluster of trees just at the base of the bunny slope. That's also when you get that sinking feeling and "oh no".
Apparently she'd built speed, panicked and froze up, resulting in her not being able to turn and avoid the little cluster of pines right in front of her. To make things worse, there is a small dip where snow hadn't built up around the base of the cluster of trees, so she'd slid down that and gotten trapped in the dip against a tree, unable to get herself up without a few other people getting in there to lift her out.
Caryn did not ski any more that day, and went off for a hot chocolate. Good thing I'm not trying to make a living as a ski instructor.
Anyway quite a few us hadn't skied before, and as we weren't interested in paying for an instructor, we had myself and one other guy looking to teach the basics of snowplough and turning to the four others. We must have spent about an hour going up and down the bunny slope, building confidence and ability. Finally we got to the stage where everyone was keen to move on and try the larger slope.
The slope wasn't complex, basically the larger hill and the bunny slope were side by side pointing down in the same direction. So we were just going to head down to the bottom of the bunny slope, and then steer a little left towards where the ski lift started that would take us up. So we went down in two groups, myself with two learners and the other guy with the other two.
We all arrived and were joining the lift queue when someone asked: "where's Caryn?"
No one knew where she'd gotten to, but the second group was sure she'd been right with them, and that's when we saw a group of people gathering around near a cluster of trees just at the base of the bunny slope. That's also when you get that sinking feeling and "oh no".
Apparently she'd built speed, panicked and froze up, resulting in her not being able to turn and avoid the little cluster of pines right in front of her. To make things worse, there is a small dip where snow hadn't built up around the base of the cluster of trees, so she'd slid down that and gotten trapped in the dip against a tree, unable to get herself up without a few other people getting in there to lift her out.
Caryn did not ski any more that day, and went off for a hot chocolate. Good thing I'm not trying to make a living as a ski instructor.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Ohhhh..... nasty
Pretty much if you've ever caught a public transport train, whether in your home town doing the commute, or when on holidays and touring sites, you would have had to encounter the myriad of stairs and escalators that all go with the stations that accompany any public transport system.
During my commute to work, I don't take the stairs nearly enough but I'll kind keep walking on the escalators to speed up my ascent/descent to where ever I'm going. The etiquette here is similar to most places when it comes to escalators which can fit two people across; people who relax and enjoy the escalator ride all stand on one side, and the free side is left available for those who like to walk up the escalator steps in the pretence that we're kinda exercising.
This morning, as I'm stepping up the escalator, and kinda breathing deep as I try to hustle my way to the next train, the guy in front of me farts in mid step and I get my lungs full.
He just keeps going pretending to be innocent while I collapse gasping for air and making a monkey of myself on the floor.
Now, several mouth rinses with water, 2 cups of tea, a banana and some other fruit later, the taste still haunts me. I don't know what I'd do if I ever see that guy again, but the problem is I'll only recognise his butt and that will have me in the position for him to do it all over again.
During my commute to work, I don't take the stairs nearly enough but I'll kind keep walking on the escalators to speed up my ascent/descent to where ever I'm going. The etiquette here is similar to most places when it comes to escalators which can fit two people across; people who relax and enjoy the escalator ride all stand on one side, and the free side is left available for those who like to walk up the escalator steps in the pretence that we're kinda exercising.
This morning, as I'm stepping up the escalator, and kinda breathing deep as I try to hustle my way to the next train, the guy in front of me farts in mid step and I get my lungs full.
He just keeps going pretending to be innocent while I collapse gasping for air and making a monkey of myself on the floor.
Now, several mouth rinses with water, 2 cups of tea, a banana and some other fruit later, the taste still haunts me. I don't know what I'd do if I ever see that guy again, but the problem is I'll only recognise his butt and that will have me in the position for him to do it all over again.
Royal flush
Not the poker kind, at least not this time, instead I mean the toilet type.
A large number of toilets, seemingly anything over 10 years old, uses the float on a lever arm to control the inlet valve. I couldn't really find a decent picture, or at least one that wasn't too gritty, to show how these work, but essentially a rubber stopper is pushed down as the float rises on the water level, at the other end of a lever arm. The rubber stopper is intended to push down on the inlet hole, and cut off the supply once the water level has risen to the right point.
Anyway these things are cheap and nasty, and if you don't get decent rubber washers from the hardware store, then it is highly unlikely it'll seal properly. What you'll end up with is water still seeping through from the tap pressure and causing a hissing sound to be constantly heard. It can drive you crazy if you can hear it all the time.
Even if you can't, then what it also means is that the water level is still gradually rising and once it reaches the overflow point, that water is being wasted.
Anyway, digging through YouTube videos in desperation on how to fix this thing properly, I came across a reference to using Caroma's QuietFlow setup. It's also meant to be maintenance free so I shouldn't even have to worry about replacing ballcock washers anymore.
I had my doubts, but just finished installing it last night and it really does work well. An easy install, and works just like video and other reviews had indicated: fills fast until the set cutoff level where it cuts off straightaway and no hissing. For $24 (including delivery) from ABL Tile Centre its worth it.
Now all I've got to do is replace the jet engine of an exhaust fan with something more discreet, and going to the toilet will finally be a serene experience.
A large number of toilets, seemingly anything over 10 years old, uses the float on a lever arm to control the inlet valve. I couldn't really find a decent picture, or at least one that wasn't too gritty, to show how these work, but essentially a rubber stopper is pushed down as the float rises on the water level, at the other end of a lever arm. The rubber stopper is intended to push down on the inlet hole, and cut off the supply once the water level has risen to the right point.
Even if you can't, then what it also means is that the water level is still gradually rising and once it reaches the overflow point, that water is being wasted.
Anyway, digging through YouTube videos in desperation on how to fix this thing properly, I came across a reference to using Caroma's QuietFlow setup. It's also meant to be maintenance free so I shouldn't even have to worry about replacing ballcock washers anymore.
I had my doubts, but just finished installing it last night and it really does work well. An easy install, and works just like video and other reviews had indicated: fills fast until the set cutoff level where it cuts off straightaway and no hissing. For $24 (including delivery) from ABL Tile Centre its worth it.
Now all I've got to do is replace the jet engine of an exhaust fan with something more discreet, and going to the toilet will finally be a serene experience.
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
I'm awake now
So yesterday was interesting. A bunch of changes in perspective, and then on the train ride home I get a call that water is gushing out of the hot water unit.
Awesome.
The tank is only 14 years old, but it seems the early owners weren't into maintaining the anode, so even though we replaced it just after moving in, that apparently was too late.
So a cold shower this morning which was rather exhilarating, and I can also look forward to an exciting water bill, and probably a good electricity one as well. While I was attending to it last night and assessing the extent of corrosion, I could hear the element still frantically trying to heat the little bit of water that was left in the bottom.
Anyway, hoping to get a replacement unit put in today. Bye bye money, I'll miss you, even though you never seemed to care much for me.
Awesome.
The tank is only 14 years old, but it seems the early owners weren't into maintaining the anode, so even though we replaced it just after moving in, that apparently was too late.
So a cold shower this morning which was rather exhilarating, and I can also look forward to an exciting water bill, and probably a good electricity one as well. While I was attending to it last night and assessing the extent of corrosion, I could hear the element still frantically trying to heat the little bit of water that was left in the bottom.
Anyway, hoping to get a replacement unit put in today. Bye bye money, I'll miss you, even though you never seemed to care much for me.
A different perspective
I just wrote about perspective when it comes to hearing about events secondhand, but today I was given a different perspective entirely. A close friend recently experienced an unexpected loss in his family. One day everything was normal, and the next was filled with shock and agony.
The event has understandably shaken them to the core and although he is thankful for what was spared, there is little that gives him much cheer right now.
We spend our lives sometimes chasing ridiculous things, and I think of all the hours I've sunk into computer games and other stuff that doesn't matter, but not into the people who I care about. Events like this help to reset my view on reality.
Bro, my thoughts are with you.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Do you see a duck or a lady?
You know those visual illusion puzzles, where when you first look at it, one image appears, but then as you concentrate and look for a secondary image, you then see something else begin to become visible? There are a few classics getting around that you most likely would have seen, such as this:
and this:
The same thing happens in media when different people report on the same event. Based upon the bias of a person, the things that they have seen or heard, and how they interpret it, they'll then put their own spin on what has happened in that event. A charismatic writer can be quite influential in swaying people towards their own view.
You're probably aware of this and have your own experiences where you've seen this happen. I was reminded of it again just this morning when reading about a particular event that occurred in the USA within the ranks of NFL. The summery of the event is that a player for the NFL team; Miami Dolphins, took leave from playing and revealed that it was due to bullying from another player in hos own team. I won't go into the details, if you want you can read about it then you can Google the two players involved Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin.
However I'm not writing about this to give an opinion on who is at fault, but simply to say I was surprised about how my view got confused when I read about the article from two different writers who I both have a good amount of respect for.
The first writer was Brian Philips from Grantland (ESPN) who wrote an interesting and extensive piece that talked about the entrenched attitudes of bullying and machismo that led to a shocking degree of depression and suicide within the ranks of that sport. The article is here though I must warn that the language is a little course.
On the flipside is another writer who is even more coarse in his language, but approaches the situation from the reverse angle. I've found his perspective and experience interesting for a large number of reasons, but his site is even less suitable for those wanting to avoid crude language. To respect his opinion, you would have needed to have read alot of his past blog to get a feel for how reasonable or intelligent he may be. He did conclude his own entry with saying that we'd need to see all the facts come out, but he did make clear what his opinion was, and it was quite the opposite of Brian Philips. If you're not offended easily, you can read his post here.
I was reminded once again that when it comes to hearing about an interesting event secondhand, particularly when it will affect and shape my interaction with that person, I need to do my own research as the teller of the story will have applied their own bias.
and this:
The same thing happens in media when different people report on the same event. Based upon the bias of a person, the things that they have seen or heard, and how they interpret it, they'll then put their own spin on what has happened in that event. A charismatic writer can be quite influential in swaying people towards their own view.
You're probably aware of this and have your own experiences where you've seen this happen. I was reminded of it again just this morning when reading about a particular event that occurred in the USA within the ranks of NFL. The summery of the event is that a player for the NFL team; Miami Dolphins, took leave from playing and revealed that it was due to bullying from another player in hos own team. I won't go into the details, if you want you can read about it then you can Google the two players involved Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin.
However I'm not writing about this to give an opinion on who is at fault, but simply to say I was surprised about how my view got confused when I read about the article from two different writers who I both have a good amount of respect for.
The first writer was Brian Philips from Grantland (ESPN) who wrote an interesting and extensive piece that talked about the entrenched attitudes of bullying and machismo that led to a shocking degree of depression and suicide within the ranks of that sport. The article is here though I must warn that the language is a little course.
On the flipside is another writer who is even more coarse in his language, but approaches the situation from the reverse angle. I've found his perspective and experience interesting for a large number of reasons, but his site is even less suitable for those wanting to avoid crude language. To respect his opinion, you would have needed to have read alot of his past blog to get a feel for how reasonable or intelligent he may be. He did conclude his own entry with saying that we'd need to see all the facts come out, but he did make clear what his opinion was, and it was quite the opposite of Brian Philips. If you're not offended easily, you can read his post here.
I was reminded once again that when it comes to hearing about an interesting event secondhand, particularly when it will affect and shape my interaction with that person, I need to do my own research as the teller of the story will have applied their own bias.
Writing role models
I've been trying to think a little bit about some of the things that led me to consider blogging. Sometimes these things can be hard to really identify if you weren't concentrating or taking notes when it was all happening, especially if you have a memory like mine, but I was thinking back on it today, and I think I was inspired by the writing of other people.
I've only got one favourite fiction author, and that is Terry Pratchett. The guy knows how to tell a story and weave some wit through the entire thing. I don't agree with all of his world views, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying his books as I have to say they're worth considering if you've never read any of his stuff.
Then I recently came across an American writer called Chuck Klosterman. I came across one of his books 'A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas' by chance at the local library and found his style quite enthralling. The way he took regular events and meetings, and then related them in a funny and engaging way, was enthralling to me.
You're bound to meet at least one person like that in your life, whether they be the class clown, the life of the party, or whatever, they are the kind of person who can have you laughing about their story of getting the saturday paper from the shop.
Well looking for more of his stuff, I found that he was an occassional writer for an ESPN website: Grantland.com. They've got quite a large number of good writers who feature on that site regularly. Their articles feature not just North American sport, but also pop-culture observations. Over the past couple of years, those articles have linked to other writings and even blogs.
Some of those blogs have turned out to be quite good, and then linked to other blogs which have also been quite engaging. Danny Choo's blog is remarkably engaging, but his entries are primarily composed of photos he has taken during an occassion, so in a way, his blog entries are quite visual. (He is an excellent photographer and I've been reading alot about his camera choices as he's clearly achieved good results from a combination of the right equipment and great ability.)
I like how these individuals are all able to communicate and connect with people. They're frequently intelligent in their thoughts and opinions, and able to recognise what is interesting to the people they're relating it to. I hope that I can develop in a similar way, because if anything, I don't want to be boring to listen to.
I've only got one favourite fiction author, and that is Terry Pratchett. The guy knows how to tell a story and weave some wit through the entire thing. I don't agree with all of his world views, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying his books as I have to say they're worth considering if you've never read any of his stuff.
Then I recently came across an American writer called Chuck Klosterman. I came across one of his books 'A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas' by chance at the local library and found his style quite enthralling. The way he took regular events and meetings, and then related them in a funny and engaging way, was enthralling to me.
You're bound to meet at least one person like that in your life, whether they be the class clown, the life of the party, or whatever, they are the kind of person who can have you laughing about their story of getting the saturday paper from the shop.
Well looking for more of his stuff, I found that he was an occassional writer for an ESPN website: Grantland.com. They've got quite a large number of good writers who feature on that site regularly. Their articles feature not just North American sport, but also pop-culture observations. Over the past couple of years, those articles have linked to other writings and even blogs.
Some of those blogs have turned out to be quite good, and then linked to other blogs which have also been quite engaging. Danny Choo's blog is remarkably engaging, but his entries are primarily composed of photos he has taken during an occassion, so in a way, his blog entries are quite visual. (He is an excellent photographer and I've been reading alot about his camera choices as he's clearly achieved good results from a combination of the right equipment and great ability.)
I like how these individuals are all able to communicate and connect with people. They're frequently intelligent in their thoughts and opinions, and able to recognise what is interesting to the people they're relating it to. I hope that I can develop in a similar way, because if anything, I don't want to be boring to listen to.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Lindsey Stirling
Depending on whether you watch those tv talent game shows or not, you probably won't recognise that name. She's an American violinist, only 27 years old but remarkably talented and has stood out from many others by adding hip-hop and electronic styles to her perfomances. I've not really been much of a fan of instrumentals primarily featuring violins, but her music has been quite remarkable and very worthwhile listening to. You can check some of her stuff out on SoundCloud if you're ever curious. She's featured on America's Got Talent back in 2005, and it is interesting in seeing how she's managed to make a name for herself despite the number of people who said her fusion of violin with contemporary electronic and dubstep styles would never work.
It has me thinking that I've let alot of things slide, mainly due to finding it easier to sink hours into video games. For example I've got about $2,000 worth of wind and brass instruments idling away in a closet. I've got to pull that stuff out and get back into playing music.
My to-do list is starting to look kinda long...
It has me thinking that I've let alot of things slide, mainly due to finding it easier to sink hours into video games. For example I've got about $2,000 worth of wind and brass instruments idling away in a closet. I've got to pull that stuff out and get back into playing music.
My to-do list is starting to look kinda long...
Fearing for the future
I'm going to bring up the sniffing and snorting thing again because for some reason it seems that there are a cloud of people, who are doing this constantly, hovering around me for the past month. It is driving me nuts!
I related this to my wife, and perhaps she felt that I was including her in this, but I'm not. She suffers from quite bad hayfever, and the current Spring is being rather severe now that the sun is out. However, where my wife stands out from most, is that she's aware of what hayfever involves and she keeps tissues at hand all the time. So when there's stuff in her nose, she blows.
Why most of the Australian population has forgotten this principle is beyond me. I still remember quite clearly the times that my mother reprimanded me for snorting and not using tissues or a handkerchief. Such that I was quite aware that not only was sniffling a gross act, but that it clearly irritated her, and by extension it would definitely annoy everyone else. Now I'll make a note here, despite all my upbringing, I almost never carry tissues, even when I'm chronically sick. However, what I will do, is go out of my way to clear the sinuses before going out, and also look to avail myself of a tissue when those sinuses start to run again. Often this is accommodated by visiting a restroom facility to grab a couple of squares of toilet paper. I live in a developed nation, and public washrooms are everywhere. If I find myself in a place where there are no restrooms of any sort, then I'm also in a place where there aren't any people and snorting to my heart's content, or wiping my nose on a koala, isn't an issue.
Anyway, getting back to the point in hand; my mum. In fact, for my generation I believe it would be accurate to say that the vast majority of mothers would have instilled an understanding of the appropriate and best way of getting rid of mucus. Afterall, your body is using it to try to get rid of something, why would you then want to ingest it?
So the past week, I've been looking at some of the people in the cloud of sniffers, and I've been a little surprised. On two occassions, the sniffer was part of a romantically linked pair of individuals, and it has been the male on both occassions. What surprised me was that for the duration that I was in their presence (in one case 10minutes during a train journey) the woman did not seem perturbed by her partner's behaviour.
These have both been young couples, and either still informally attached or very early in a more long-term arrangement, yet the female half of the pairing did not provide any etiquette guidance for her disadvantaged other. The guy would have been doing this for the time they had been together before I crossed their path that day, and most likely continued afterwards as well. I'm not saying her best solution would have been to look for a better partner, but I'm surprised that she wasn't correcting that behaviour.
Where I'm going with this is; if the women who are the future mothers of tomorrow are not disturbed by constant loud snorting right next to them, then will that mean that they won't be correcting their children? And what will that mean for the hygiene and etiquette for the next generation?
The possibilities make me cringe.
I related this to my wife, and perhaps she felt that I was including her in this, but I'm not. She suffers from quite bad hayfever, and the current Spring is being rather severe now that the sun is out. However, where my wife stands out from most, is that she's aware of what hayfever involves and she keeps tissues at hand all the time. So when there's stuff in her nose, she blows.
Why most of the Australian population has forgotten this principle is beyond me. I still remember quite clearly the times that my mother reprimanded me for snorting and not using tissues or a handkerchief. Such that I was quite aware that not only was sniffling a gross act, but that it clearly irritated her, and by extension it would definitely annoy everyone else. Now I'll make a note here, despite all my upbringing, I almost never carry tissues, even when I'm chronically sick. However, what I will do, is go out of my way to clear the sinuses before going out, and also look to avail myself of a tissue when those sinuses start to run again. Often this is accommodated by visiting a restroom facility to grab a couple of squares of toilet paper. I live in a developed nation, and public washrooms are everywhere. If I find myself in a place where there are no restrooms of any sort, then I'm also in a place where there aren't any people and snorting to my heart's content, or wiping my nose on a koala, isn't an issue.
Anyway, getting back to the point in hand; my mum. In fact, for my generation I believe it would be accurate to say that the vast majority of mothers would have instilled an understanding of the appropriate and best way of getting rid of mucus. Afterall, your body is using it to try to get rid of something, why would you then want to ingest it?
So the past week, I've been looking at some of the people in the cloud of sniffers, and I've been a little surprised. On two occassions, the sniffer was part of a romantically linked pair of individuals, and it has been the male on both occassions. What surprised me was that for the duration that I was in their presence (in one case 10minutes during a train journey) the woman did not seem perturbed by her partner's behaviour.
These have both been young couples, and either still informally attached or very early in a more long-term arrangement, yet the female half of the pairing did not provide any etiquette guidance for her disadvantaged other. The guy would have been doing this for the time they had been together before I crossed their path that day, and most likely continued afterwards as well. I'm not saying her best solution would have been to look for a better partner, but I'm surprised that she wasn't correcting that behaviour.
Where I'm going with this is; if the women who are the future mothers of tomorrow are not disturbed by constant loud snorting right next to them, then will that mean that they won't be correcting their children? And what will that mean for the hygiene and etiquette for the next generation?
The possibilities make me cringe.
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Torture bars
Thought I should get a picture up of my handiwork. It's held up well for the past week, though of course I am not managing many reps just yet. I've only managed 3.
Goal for the moment is to be able to do 20. The other thing as well is that I'm getting into these cold, so it isn't like it is part of an exercise routine. If I was, I'd probably still only be managing 1.
Anyway, baby steps. One of the guys at my work recommended looking up BarStarzz on Youtube, which kind of originated out of guys using the bars at local parks and around the streets for their exercise routines. Something I'm hoping to get some inspiration from.
Main thing I'm happy about right now is that it hasn't pulled out of the wall.
Goal for the moment is to be able to do 20. The other thing as well is that I'm getting into these cold, so it isn't like it is part of an exercise routine. If I was, I'd probably still only be managing 1.
Anyway, baby steps. One of the guys at my work recommended looking up BarStarzz on Youtube, which kind of originated out of guys using the bars at local parks and around the streets for their exercise routines. Something I'm hoping to get some inspiration from.
Main thing I'm happy about right now is that it hasn't pulled out of the wall.
Monday, 4 November 2013
H-uh... I can almost juggle.
I've always wanted to learn how to juggle and so I've occassionally messed around with some hacky sack things around the house, but the problem is that I only have two. So I would kinda improvise a third and try for a while, then completely forget about it. End result, I have no ability. Recently though I decided to get a few sets of three juggling training balls (they're for prizes for something else, a post for another time), but I kept one for myself to practice with. So now I can do a really basic routine, though not very reliably. But I'm making progress and it's only taken me a few days.
This is kinda cool, to me anyways. And also I can honestly say that committing oneself to practicing something regularly actually works. There might be a life lesson here... not sure.
I'm gonna keep at this until I can juggle on demand.
Write off.
Wow, last week was a killer. I have a few favourite blogs were the writers are remarkably entertaining and I love hearing about all their adventures and experiences, but they'd have big gaps in their posts occassionally, and I would wonder to myself how can things get so on top of a person that they drop off the radar for a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months?
Well, I had that happen to me last week. Between some insane days at the office, combined with some other preparation work for extra curricular activities, it meant that both my days and nights were hosed, and I had no desire to sit in front of a computer to compose any postings. Sorry about that.
Anyway the weekend was fun. My legs were killing me after having a few nights where I had to skate alot further and a bit more frantically to make trains. The services here really die out after 6:30pm, and the station near my workplace is not one I want to sit around after dark, so I end up pushing uphill for the short distance into the central station. It all means I'm just out of shape.
So with the fatigue in my legs making me reticent to do any work, I had to really push to get some stuff done around the house that has been needing attention. Saturday morning was spent lying on the roof for an hour in the sun rewiring LED transformers for the dining room. One of the older units had cracked the solder joints for the wiring block, and that meant the slightly intermittent power supply was blowing the globes, and LED units are still expensive here. I've also upped the LED lights to a slightly higher power for more light. The end result is that we can now see what we're eating, and that's nice.
I also finally fixed the damn dynabolts holding up my chin up bar. You can see the picture below of the cheap ones that originally came with it. These bolts are so cheap that I couldn't even find a decent photo of them.
These bolts fail because the flared end is actually visibly wider than the sheath, and that's bad because you then need to make a wider hole than necessary to make the bolt go in, and you run the risk that it then won't flare enough. I bought some nicer ones with a more accurately machined tip, but had to be longer so they would go through to a deeper drilled section of the wall, reusing the same holes. It isn't perfect, but it holds my weight.
I can now do two reps. Sweet.
I had a guy give me some advice on different training techniques to build strength in this area, so hopefully I'll be occassionally posting about my progress in this regard.
Oh, I also spent 4 hours this weekend trying to fix our toilet. The toilet had issues leaking from the outlet valve, as well as also the inlet valve not shutting off properly. It was bad enough that we could now see it measurably impacting our daily water usage. Four hours. Four hours trying to fix what should take 15min to do. The outlet valve is fixed , however the inlet valve still leaks. It is better now, but it is still leaking.
I hate you Caroma. I want my money and my four hours back.
Well, I had that happen to me last week. Between some insane days at the office, combined with some other preparation work for extra curricular activities, it meant that both my days and nights were hosed, and I had no desire to sit in front of a computer to compose any postings. Sorry about that.
Anyway the weekend was fun. My legs were killing me after having a few nights where I had to skate alot further and a bit more frantically to make trains. The services here really die out after 6:30pm, and the station near my workplace is not one I want to sit around after dark, so I end up pushing uphill for the short distance into the central station. It all means I'm just out of shape.
So with the fatigue in my legs making me reticent to do any work, I had to really push to get some stuff done around the house that has been needing attention. Saturday morning was spent lying on the roof for an hour in the sun rewiring LED transformers for the dining room. One of the older units had cracked the solder joints for the wiring block, and that meant the slightly intermittent power supply was blowing the globes, and LED units are still expensive here. I've also upped the LED lights to a slightly higher power for more light. The end result is that we can now see what we're eating, and that's nice.
I also finally fixed the damn dynabolts holding up my chin up bar. You can see the picture below of the cheap ones that originally came with it. These bolts are so cheap that I couldn't even find a decent photo of them.
These bolts fail because the flared end is actually visibly wider than the sheath, and that's bad because you then need to make a wider hole than necessary to make the bolt go in, and you run the risk that it then won't flare enough. I bought some nicer ones with a more accurately machined tip, but had to be longer so they would go through to a deeper drilled section of the wall, reusing the same holes. It isn't perfect, but it holds my weight.
I can now do two reps. Sweet.
I had a guy give me some advice on different training techniques to build strength in this area, so hopefully I'll be occassionally posting about my progress in this regard.
Oh, I also spent 4 hours this weekend trying to fix our toilet. The toilet had issues leaking from the outlet valve, as well as also the inlet valve not shutting off properly. It was bad enough that we could now see it measurably impacting our daily water usage. Four hours. Four hours trying to fix what should take 15min to do. The outlet valve is fixed , however the inlet valve still leaks. It is better now, but it is still leaking.
I hate you Caroma. I want my money and my four hours back.
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