Lucky Number Sleven

So here is my impromptu movie review:  Good time fun, great cast, good twists and all around good movie.  It involves some mob bosses, assasins and one very unlucky guy.  Lucy Liu is in there as well, and since she is hot - I say it's worth the NetFlix.  I know I'm way late on this, but it just came out not to long ago on Netflix, so I picked it up.  Add it to your que and enjoy!!

Posted by BCKinetic @ 1:48 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

Bored on a Saturday at work

I really don't like working Saturdays right now.  It kind of sucks.  But..... once snowboarding season is in swing I will love working Saturdays because that means I get a day off during the week.  And boarding during the week is much better than on the weekends.  It's not even October yet and I'm already getting amped to be on the mountain.

For those of you who have never boarded or skiied in California, you are missing out.  I highly recommend making it a week trip if you can.  There are about 10 resorts all within an hour of each other all bordering Lake Tahoe.  I love being on top of a mountain, looking out over the Lake, breathing in the crisp clean air.  There is something so.... euphoric about it.  I am destined to just move to a ski town and live there.  Who needs a "good job" anyways.  It's overrated.

Here are just a few views of some of the resorts I have boarded.  I can't wait!!!

Heavenly Ski Resort:



Homewood Ski Resort


Northstar at Tahoe:



Sierra at Tahoe:



Kirkwood Ski Resort:





Posted by BCKinetic @ 3:38 pm EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

Random thoughts

Have you ever stopped a moment and put yourself into some random person's position? The other day, I was sitting in my car at a stop light and looked over at this woman in the car next to me. She was driving a BMW SUV, probably in her late 30's early 40's, had a kid in the back seat probably about 4 years old. I just had to stop and wonder what exactly was going on in her life at that moment in time. Was she on the way to some sort of babysitter for the son? It was early enough. Perhaps she didn't have to work, maybe she was going to a friends house so their children could play together. What was she thinking about? How she was upset because last night her husband didn't do any of the dishes again. He is such a slob, always expecting her to clean up after him. Perhaps her sister was going through some family trouble with her other sister. What kinds of messed up things were going on in her life? What kinds of awesome and inspiring things were going on in her life? Isn't it interesting how your mind can conjour up a whole complexity of things in just the mere time it takes to sit through a red light. Next time you are sitting at a red light, look over and let your imagination do the rest. That person next to you is going through some of the same stuff you are; but they could be going through some really different stuff too. Who knows...

Posted by BCKinetic @ 12:43 am EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

It's FREAKING HOT!!

It has been 105 deg. or better for the last 5 days and I can't take it anymore! My poor cats are nothing but puddles of fur when I get home at night. Last night it was still 84 deg. outside at midnight! I looked into getting a window mount AC unit - impossible. None to be bought around here. Besides that, my shitty new house (the one with the shitty phone wiring) also has crappy outlet wiring. I would have to wire a new grounded 115 volt outlet with its own breaker. Let's just say - NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I don't know how to do that, nor do I want to try. And I'm not paying for an electrician to come out.

We have tried closing everything down in the morning, and it seems that there must not be any insulation in the attic, because that resulted in sweltering heat inside the house. Again - kitty puddles.

I'm sick of this heat wave!! I know it's worse other places, but for right now, I'm going to vent.

BC- out

PS- This is kind of what a "kitty puddle" looks like:



And this is - Kitties on a 'Nip Trip'  (the plant in the cinder block is cat nip)



Posted by BCKinetic @ 2:40 am EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Wiring a new phone jack-

So, wether you knew it or not, Ive been MIA for the past month due to moving. ;; I have managed to slip in a sarcastic comment here and there from work, and then when I leach off my neighbors wireless signal. ;; But I havent been able to play xbox online - which sucks! ;; The ISP guy came out, determined that my new place has shitty wiring. ;; He would have to run new wire and install a new jack. ;; That would cost me approximately $200, if no problems arose and more time wasnt needed. ;; I said, "Um, how hard is it to hook up to the incoming line?" ;; I mean the line that the ISP provides, where I get dial tone basically. ;; Turns out, its super easy, you just unhook the old wires and hook up the new ones.

So, ofcourse, I say to myself, "Self, you can do this and do it better!" ;; I know you all know that Tim Allen grunt in the back of your head. ;; The one that convinces you that you are smarter than you really are. ;;

The game plan: Install a new phone jack that has two ports, one for the modem and one for my wireless phone. ;; Yes they will sit right next to each other, but wireless router is 2.4Ghz and the wireless phone is 5.8Ghz. ;; Shouldnt be a problem. ;; Then next to that, install a network jack, run wire down under the hallway and up to the living room behind the TV. ;; Install another jack there. ;; This will make the wife very happy because she wont trip over the patch cable I continually run across the hallway. ;; Simple right? ;; Well, really it is, but Im a novice.

Well, hassle number 1. ;; I moved into a duplex. ;; The crawlspace opening is under the other half of the duplex. ;; Yes, that means that I have to crawl all the way from under his house, just to get to mine, and then ofcourse I have to go 3/4 of the way through mine to get to the spot. ;; Awesome. ;; Im still going strong though. ;; I can do it.

So I go to Frys, get the wire (and damn if you can find just plain Cat 3 wiring), so I just buy Cat 5. It was only $40 for 100 meters. ;; I will only use about 1/2 that and then I dont have to buy wire for the networking side of things. ;; I pick up the dual port phone jack, two RJ-45 keystone jacks and two one slot face plates for those jacks. ;; I also grab some networking wire hangers (the ones with a little plastic bracket attached to a nail), and a punch-down tool for wiring the jacks. ;; Sweet, Im set. ;; I go over to Home Depot, pick up 3 plastic wall boxes and a small drywall saw. ;;

At this point, Im amped up. ;; I get my box of cable, a hammer and the hangers. ;; I figure I will get under there, run the wire to the approximate spot and them come back up for a break and reassess the situation. ;; So under I go. ;; Flashlight in hand, I am barracaded by a wall of spiderwebs on any side. ;; No big deal, I knock stuff down with the hammer and keep moving. ;; I instanly see the problem with the original wiring in the house. ;; Its your basic "flat grade" wire, and there is a spot where about 20 feet is just wrapped around a cold water pipe connected to another wire by a coupling. ;; And not a good one, just one of those $0.99 ones you buy to get by. ;; But whatever, all the landlord has to do is provide dialtone, right... ;;

So I start crawling in this 3 foot space. ;; Run some wire out a crawlspace vent to the spot where the phone panel is. ;; Then I start working my way back. ;; Everything is going smooth, then I hit a heater duct. ;; Hmmm, maybe I can make it. ;; So I squeeze under it, just barely and keep moving. ;; Sweet. ;; I see some piping up ahead, but we will worry about that when we get up there. ;; Well, I should have worried about it sooner. ;; I get up there and cant quite get under it. ;; I get half way and almost get myself stuck. ;; But I breathed out deep and managed to squeeze through again (damn Im glad Im a skinny runt). ;; So, I get to the approximage spot and then head back up to the surface. ;; It only took me about an hour and a half to run the wire. ;; But I must say, after about an hour, that $200 wasnt looking so bad.

DAY 2:
Alright, Im ready now, Ive got my wireless drill charged up, a new 1" drill bit that looks mean, and some other stuff. ;; I put everything in a plastic box so I can easily slide it around under the house. ;; Heres what Ive got: Drill, drill bit, tape measure, wire hanger, needlenose pliers, wire cutters, duct tape, walkie talkie. ;; I have my wife home now, so I use her to guide me under the house. ;; I take measurements from walls, and guesstimate where I will need to drill. ;; Luckily, once Im under the house, I can use a conduit pipe as a guide to where to drill in the first wall. ;; I put box holes in the corner on opposing walls. ;; Once I got under there though, I reallized that I would have to drill through 3 layers of 2x4s to get in to the wall. ;; So Im going to have to patch a hole now. ;; But I get my spot and start drilling. ;; And drilling. ;; And drilling. ;; Bit is smoking, and getting stuck. ;; Hmmm, not good. ;; The wood was really hard and the bit I bought was this new "boaring" type of bit that was too aggressive for the wood. ;; It pretty much drains the battery on my drill. ;; Damn. ;; Back up to the surface. ;;

I make a run over to by buddies house and borrow his set of drill bits, and a wired drill and extension cord. ;; I get back to my place and head back under. ;; I drag along his drill and a few more drill bits for a variety of options should I need it. ;; Well, the wired drill made all the difference. ;; Way more power! ;; I get a good hole and have my wife lower some string down. ;; Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you - I wanted to put the router and modem up high ontop of a cabinet in the kitchen. ;; So I cut holes about 7 feet high on the wall - another bright idea from yours truely. ;; Well, I have my wife drop string down a hole with a nut attached to it for weight. ;; And miraculously I reach up with the wire hanger and am able to pull the string through the hole!!!! I attach the cable, wrap some duct tape around it for security and up it goes. ;; We then repeat the process and send up a second wire. ;; Alright, halfway done. ;;

Now to find the hole for the living room wall. ;; Its only about 5 feet over and 2 feet back. ;; I have my wife measure from above, I measure from below; should be good. ;; I start to drill, and about the point I think I should be breaking through my wife yells, "STOP!" ;; Uh oh. ;; I was off by about an inch and a half and was drilling up into the carpet and baseboard. ;; Its not too noticable though and it will be behind the TV anyways. ;; Lets just hope he doesnt notice when I move out. ;; So I drill a new hole and run the wire up and out. ;; Mission accomplished.

As Im getting things packed up I see where our TV cable lines come up through the carpet. ;; Its not at all where the TV is, so I cut those and drag them over to behind the TV hole and run them up. ;; I will install a new cable jack there while Im at it. ;; Sweet, now all that is left is putting in the jacks.

DAY 3:
I get home from work today and start on the jacks right away. ;; It takes me a practice round on some spare wire to figure out how to hook up the network RJ45 jacks, but I manage alright. ;; After a couple hours, its done! ;; My wireless router and modem now sit proudly up and out of the way and everything is working like a champ. ;; My download and upload numbers are very strong so Im happy. ;;

Here are some pics of the (mostly) finished work:

On top of the cabinet. ;; You can easily see the hole I will have to patch. ;; Not a problem though, done it lots of times.


Look at those jacks - kick ass!


This is where they are in the kitchen.


And here is behind the TV


Posted by BCKinetic @ 3:39 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments