Category Archives: Daily Updates

My Dell M6500 and Performance Upgrades

This month I’ll be switching over from a Dell M4400 to a Dell M6500. Samantha is rocking it out with a Dell Vostro V130. They are all three excellent machines, but for my purposes the M6500 is nearly perfect. Specifically, it is: bargain priced (since the M6600 is out now) especially if refurbished via Dell Outlet (w/3 year warranty) high-enough performance (dual core 4 threads HT is enough and should minimize heat compared to quad core 8 threads) up to

Week 1 Insanity Workout – Recap and Tips

Great shoes for P90X or Beach Body Insanity workouts!

Week 1 Insanity Recap and Tips First, hang in there! One of the great things about the Insanity workout is that there are very few “counting reps” type exercises. Instead, you are gradually working out to your max potential every workout. This could make it a bit discouraging in the beginning if you are significantly slower than the people in the video, however, if you stick with it you will be up to speed in no time! Secondly, watch out

Starting the Insanity Workout

This week I started the Beach Body Insanity Workout. After the first day  I knew this must be one heck of a workout because even the preliminary fit-test was a REAL workout! Many of you are probably already familiar with P90X. It’s a great workout but the equipment and time demands can be a bit extreme if you’re just looking to stay fit while still keeping your workouts as short as possible. P90X also seems to have a bit more

Kudos and thanks to Akismet [what to do if your comments are flagged as spam]

What to do if your comments are being flagged as spam?! Try revising your comment: If it is a particular comment/blog that is causing you problems, then you may want to revise your comment (remove URLs and any keywords that may be getting flagged as spam). Sometimes a surprisingly simple revision can help a legit comment get approved when it was previously getting flagged as spam. Nicely contact the blog admin: If your comments are only blocked for a particular

48V DC to 120V AC inverter for Polaris Ranger EV

Our family has a Polaris Ranger EV which we seem to use all the time. “Evy” as we sometimes call her is an extremely capable off road vehicle and the performance, torque and ride are all outstanding. I prefer it over any gas powered UTV (utility vehicle) or ATV (all-terrain-vehicle) that I’ve driven, that includes: John Deere Gators, Kawasaki Mules, Yamahas, Hondas… the list goes on! It is absolutely splendid to be able to drive around the farm and on

Daily Update: Creek Running and Sandy Bridge

One of my favorite things about modern life is the ability to daily experience the ancient and the cutting edge. Case in point: Our creek started running again this morning. I helped my buddy build a Sandy Bridge 2600K system this evening Elaboration: This lovely little creek often runs year round, but when Missouri is dry the creep sometimes dries up. Then one day the rains and water tables will cooperate to start the creek running again and clear out

Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers (size 3) Out of Stock!

We’ve been surprised that almost every store, both online and brick/mortar, is out of Huggies Pure and Natural Size 3 diapers. Thankfully, our little girl can wear size 4 now but it’s still a little bit weird. What is up Huggies? I first noticed something weird when our scheduled “subscription” (recurring) order of diapers from Amazon was delayed. Then I asked our good friend Caitlin to pick some up from Target, little did I know that she would check at

Changing the oil and oil filter on a Chevy Avalanche [updated for 2013]

Today I changed the oil on our 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche for the first time. A few notes on the process: the oil drain plug (bolt) is located horizontally (sideways), not vertically (downward) like I’m used to. the drain plug uses a 15mm wrench to re-tighten the drain plug, I used 18 ft/lbs torque (the recommendations I found called for between 15-20 ft/lbs) the oil filter is surprisingly small access to the oil filter is generally good, but clearance is tight. most oil