Broken phones, light trips, and how to do things “right”

I had a trip recently that my work paid for, for me to travel down to Chicago and work with a pretty big company on a project we worked on in the past. That said, an overnight stay at a swanky hotel was in my cards. From a sustainability standpoint, I thought it was neat, the hotel had signs left and right about sustainability, including optional turndown service. The bulbs were all some kind of fluorescent tubes (mainly compact, but some larger tube style in the vanity mirror in the bathroom. Even the faucet and shower I noticed was low flow fixtures. I also thought about what most people do, vs don’t do. I brought my own soap. I found the perfect “travel” soap, that can act as a normal bar, as shampoo, and as shaving cream if needed (actually most soap can do this, its all about how much you lather though) I packed as minimal as possible since I would have to carry everything with me most of the time I was down there (it was only 1 night, so, I had to take all my luggage with me to the office on both days, and I have a CPAP machine for my apnea, which was not fun to carry… but some extras that I packed included

1. A pillow case, not to put on the pillow, but just on top of. It did help me sleep
2. a light blanket I could bundle with… While I did get under the covers, I prefer to bundle up with something touching my face that I know is mine and know where it’s been

It’s more what I didn’t do which I think most people still do…

1. I don’t need a mini bottle of shampoo, conditioner, or lotion
2. I have a million pens at home already and don’t need notepad paper

I pretty much left the room alone from the “goodies” most people take from their hotel rooms… it’s a matter of, what the heck do I need it for? I get, however, if you do unwrap one of the soap bars, it’s not like they can rewrap it… it’s better to grab those if you so happen to open them (no need in my case, since if you see above, I brought my own soap)

As for the phone issues. it’s a double whammy. My cell phone recently cracked while I was out. While I know most warranties are useless, a cellphone warranty, even from a third party like SquareTrade, is worth it, seeing has how you invest a few hundred dollars in a device you stick in your pocket and sometimes even sit on. My phone is now out for repairs. Luckily I have a backup…. no wait, I didn’t. See the battery on my backup phone actually started to swell. I have replaced this in the past, so I ordered a new battery, was well as a certified refurbished phone, as a backup phone. reading my blog, you might gather that I like to play with things, so I ordered a windows phone (the Nokia Luma 635) as my test/backup phone. It’s affordable, has been known to “just work” and works great as a backup device. I want to experiment with some posts I saw about being able to upgrade the device to windows 10 (it’s stuck in 8.1) or even run Android apps inside of the device! I’ll play around with it. I do see why windows lost the mobile phone market, however, the device does just work, and work well…. I just can’t run most apps I want to run, like Amazon Music, on it.

Pop some tags

About a week and a half ago, I decided to stop at the local Goodwill. I was on the hunt for a new side table, since right now I am using a crate to hold up one of my side lamps. That’s when I saw it. It looked like the previous owner attempted to “restore” it. Mind you, the shows on DIY or HGTV should show the real amount of work that should be done on a DIY job! The paint was pealing, you could tell that the original color matched the inside color of white. The top was loose, but it would be perfect. A nice 3 shelf display case.

Before you decide to take on a project like this too, take to in account some of the following… expect the costs for supplies to be high, expect to make mistakes and expect it not to get done in one weekend.

1. Fix whatever is broke. In this case, reattach the top.
2. disassemble anything you can… keep all hardware you want to keep in one bag, and other hardware in another (in this case, remove the hardware and glass panels)
3. Fill in holes you dont want to use (I moved the knobs from the top of the doors to the center)
4. Sanding Sanding Sanding… I have to rough up the surface.
5. Apply coats of paint / finish (I tried a few different techniques Ive never tried before, before settling on Brown and black)
6. Drill out new holes, touch up paint marks
7. Cleanup mistakes, in my case, the glass had paint marks from the previous owner “refinishing” it… sliced my finger open in the process
8. Add finishing touches (drill out hole, apply LED Lighting (I went with a copper rope like lighting you can find on Amazon, and some hot glue to apply it)

New parts include the hinges, which are not in the photo, since they are on mail order, the LED lighting, and new knobs… Other things to improve on is to prevent light from pouring of of the lid and attach the hinges (once they come)

Spring Cleaning: The Chemicals

Here is a tricky topic of mine. My goal for spring cleaning was to not use toxic chemicals. I do have toxic chemicals in my house, from years past, that I hung onto in case the whole, all natural approach didn’t pan out. It’s been a few years, and I am happy to say that for the most part, I am living a pretty chemical safe life. It was time for me to dispose of what I had from years past. The dumps by me would not take any toxic chemicals, however, it did offer a location to return chemicals. While most people don’t think of Bleach (just about anything Clorox that’s, not “Green Works”) or Ammonia (most window cleaners and a few other products) as toxic (after all it all goes down a drain)  if you mix the 2, you create a toxic chloramine vapor! So I packed up my items (carefully and separately not to mix A with B)  and took them to my local facility for disposal. It’s also amazing how many products people own that can be simplified down to a few items. For my spring cleaning this year, I relied on (and still rely on for my normal tasks)…

1. My home made window cleaner… recipe here
2. Baking Soda for a scrubbing agent
3. Vinegar for a disinfectant
4. Vinegar + flour for a paste to use to clean metal
5. an All purpose green cleaner like seventh generation for areas in my bathroom (could have used Vinegar, but by that point, I was getting sick of the smell)
6. A spray solution for mopping made by Method
7. Seventh Generation Toliet bowl cleaner
8. Seventh Generation Dish Soap
9. Seventh Generation Laundry detergent and / or my homemade recipe
10. Rubbing Alcohol for cleaning TV screens and monitors (apply small amount to microfiber cloth, and then wipe down)

I know I can consolidate more if I wanted to (do I really need an all purpose when I have vinegar), however, these items (some are repeats) should be enough to clean your entire place!

Spring Cleaning: The Closet

This is a simple post, but one that is already starting to pay off. It’s amazing how many clothes I own that I don’t wear! I have a number of “give away” clothes from sporting events, gift clothing, and other odds and ends that still have value, but I won’t ever use or wear.

1. Try to make a quick buck (get paid to spring clean)… eBay. While eBay to many people is old-school, there are a number of people still buying and selling on the platform. Any T-shirts that are in mint condition from the events are piled in a bin for sale. These are clothes that I know have some value to them, such as stadium giveaways, brand merchandise (like beer or movie) or clothes that still have tags on them but have never been worn. I’m not marking them up too high since I am more interested in the quick sale over hanging on to clothes that I’ll never wear but I have been making money on the platform. One nice setup too is that you can give a percent of the sale to a worthwhile cause… in my case, I picked the American Cancer society.
2.  Clothes that look in good shape, but are locally branded (like radio stations) or clothes that were worn are going to the local Goodwill. While I am not a huge fan of Goodwill (I have heard stories on how they get an overabundance of items and just start throwing) it is still a good choice. Goodwill is a nonprofit, and anything you donate counts for your taxes… if you get the opportunity, of course, to be able to claim it…  However, there are a number of other companies and thrift stores that will also take your goods… if you live close to one.
3.  For extremely worn out goods, like used shoes (and I mean used… as a guy, I typically use 1 pair of shoes for weeks on end for everything) I found bins that take tattered clothes and worn shoes, and recycle them… Shoes tend to go to facilities that make rubber mats and playground material. Earth 911 has a write-up here on the topic.
4. Worse case on the tattered clothes part, you can always use them for cleaning rags if you don’t already have cleaning rags.

Make old laptops and desktops like new again

I am all about pushing the limit on keeping machines running. While you can buy a new tablet for under $100, the laptop I bought and spent over $400 on should still work well, right?

1. clean your PC…. (your digital bits)!  Clean out any files that you don’t need anymore, remove any bloatware you might have, and update your drivers and software. Also consider software like ccleaner to help you automate the task.
2. clean your PC…(the physical bits)!  This is where a can of compressed air comes in handy. If you have the guts to, spray out the inside of your PC. Also, as tempting as it is to spray against the fans to get them to spin…. lock the fan blade down with a thin wire or sturdy enough object. The fan can act as a mini generator and actually produce power where you don’t want to. While I never had a fan kill a PC, its best practice you don’t do it. For keyboards, I recommend gel cleaners such as these… just be careful, since it can end up under your keys if you are not.
3. Upgrade! It’s amazing what some cheap sticks of ram and an SSD can do for a slower PC. Crucial ram’s website can give you the exact sticks of ram you need. As for the SSD, while it’s not for the faint of heart, the process of moving to an SSD is a lot easier than it was in years past. This guide from Lifehacker is the guide I used when I migrated mine. Also, a new mouse, keyboard or monitor does not hurt.
4. Check your temps. If you are running windows, you can use an app like Speccy to validate that your ram totals look fine, and more importantly, that your PC is not overheating. I don’t know why, but on many of the systems I run into, the thermal paste they apply to the heatsink just never lasts (3-4 years). You’ll want to find out what kind of CPU you have, and then check the internet for its thermal max. If you are running idle where you should be running on heavy load, it might be the reason why your PC is acting as slow as what it is. Reapplying thermal paste is a bit more challenging, and you do risk potentially breaking your machine, so do this as a last resort or if you know what you are doing… there are plenty of youtube videos that can help you with this.
5. Try reinstalling your OS. YOU WILL WANT TO BACKUP!!!! Once that is done, Windows 10 makes it easy to reinstall. Apple also is not too bad on the reinstall. If you are running anything less then 10, you’ll need to find your install disks.
6. If all else fails, try running Linux. it’s amazing how much faster my laptop is since I made the switch (I can actually scroll through facebook and watch youtube videos that Windows 10 struggled with). I actually resized my partition, effectively cutting my hard drive in half digitally, so that I could keep windows, but boot into Linux whenever I wanted to. This is a last ditch, I was going to throw the machine away, effert, and doesn’t take long. You will be wiping your PC, losing everything if you install from scratch, so be warned (unless you dual boot, and even there, be careful)! I recommend distros like elementary os if you like mac’s or Zorin OS if you like the feel of windows.  Both are based on ubuntu, which is one of the most widely supported Linux distros out there. If you know this will be an internet only device, you can turn your PC into a Chromebook by installing Cloudready OS. Personally, I think Elementary OS is a bit too simple, so I  use Linux Mint, another Ubuntu based distro, which I themed to make look like Mac OS, only because I was getting sick of looking at Windows and OS’s structures like Windows.

Side note… this post was written on a laptop cerca 2009, that I upgraded its ram, cleaned its CPU, reapplied thermal paste (Laptops are a lot harder to work on then PC’s in that realm), switched to an SSD, and is currently my dual booting Linux machine.

 

Spring Cleaning: The Carpet

Months if not years of scrubbed in dirt line my front hallway entrance area. spilled food residue, laundry soap and other spills line bits and spots on my floor. While I am good on going after them right away, they still appear. Granted, Im good at cleaning things up and vacuuming, but after a few years, you do have to get your carpets cleaned here and there. Here are my tips and tricks for cleaning the carpet…

1. Preventive care… dont wear your shoes inside. Mr Rodgers was half right when he would slip off his shoes and throw on his inside shoes. Shoes in general can put a lot of extra wear and tear on your carpeting. Instead, just take the shoes off in the front hall or entryway area… you prevent treading dirt and germs into your house. Lifehack even recently made a post on this
http://www.lifehack.org/317735/scientists-discover-why-you-should-take-off-your-shoes-before-entering-your-home

2. If you are just concerned about smells, rather then reaching for store bought powders, go with baking soda… its just as cheap, if not cheaper, and is all natural. If you want some extra smell to it, add some of your favorite essential oils. Directions can be found here http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/homemade-carpet-powder/

3. If its just a spot, try spot cleaning it. There is no perfect solution out there for carpets when it comes to an all natural based cleaner, however, the Huffington Post did a write-up on there best spot cleaners based on what the stain was. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/we-tried-8-diy-carpet-cleaning-tricks-heres-what-worked_us_55a67bcce4b04740a3de8f2d

4. If you own a carpet cleaner, try to only use only hot water… Using too much soap was the mistake I recently made about 2 years ago. Carpet cleaning companies have us suckered in that there shampoo will make the carpet cleaner and last longer between cleanings. Truth is, it highlighted and “made” stains by clinging dirt more then it did keeping it away. If you do opt for the detergent… take a few passes of just hot water to get up as much of the residual cleaner as you can. It still may not get all the soap up, like what happened to me, however, it wont be as bad as if you left it on.

5. if you opt for a shampoo, try one that’s all natural. They do make a few brands out there that work well for carpet cleaners

6. Renting can be cheaper, for one time cleanups… if you are up to doing it yourself, renting the machine can save a few bucks. The Rug Doctors at your local store will have more power then many consumer grade carpet cleaners. That said, if you are cleaning your carpet every year (which I think might be a bit excessive, and you’ll want to read above to prevent this) investing in a carpet cleaner might be the smarter choice

7. Every once in a while, have someone else do it for you. If you rent, talk to your landlord about who they go through. They might have a company account and might be able to get you a deal on the service. If not, shop around. Look for services that offer natural, steam or organic cleaning practices. While your machine you rent or own works well, the machines professionals use can cost into the thousands of dollars and will easily outperform a cheap carpet cleaner.

Make your voice heard

While the general election, as well as local elections, give us, government wise, the ability to make changes, and make an impact, most people don’t realize they can do the same with many large companies. It’s a matter of putting your money where your mouth is. I’ve recently started investing in stocks using Loyal3, a company T-mobile used to give me shares for being a customer. Since then, I’ve invested money here and there into companies I feel are making a positive impact. With those investments, I get the opportunity as a shareholder to vote on company-wide decisions. If you have a 401k or IRA, unfortunately, those are “managed” and you don’t get to vote. Being a shareholder can have perks, including dividend payouts, and as the share goes up in value, so does the potential of making money. It does have its downsides too. If you sell, you have to report any earnings, and taxes get a bit more complex (thank you turbo tax for resolving those issues) That all said, having the ability to vote on topics give you a voice in what direction you’d like to see the company shift to.

Natural Drain cleaner

Another life hack tested.

After shaving and trimming up my facial hair that I do keep, I noticed the amount of hair going down my drain… as well as the water that was struggling to also go down. Rather than reach for some drain cleaner, I gave the internet a try. Going back to 6th-grade homemade volcanoes we would make, I took baking soda and mixed it 50,50 with water so that it would make it easier to pour down the drain. Then I took Vinegar, poured it down, and dropped my stopper, to hopefully have the gasses “push” whatever was down there further down. You will also have to seal your overflow hole as well if you have one. This seemed to have worked, since my drain, for now, appears to be behaving better. I tried this technique this morning with my tube drain… We’ll see later if it worked or not.

 

3/14/2017 – Update – This solution seems to have worked! my drains are both running quite well

 

What helps motivate you, here is one big reason I try to “go green”

When it comes to where some of my thoughts come into play, I think back on my days in grade school where we would watch old “the world of the future” videos. I always thought it was cool how technology would create this potentially perfect world. And if you go back only 25 years, the world has changed dramatically. That said, the featured image is the view I have to see every day while driving to work. I drive by the local dump since it’s on the main road on my way to work. There is a smell, and the dump is huge. It easily takes up a few city blocks, there is a smell every time I drive by it, and it just seems to get bigger and bigger. This daily reminder sets the tone of the day and reminds me that I need to do my part to stop this from getting any bigger, how large of a disposable world we really live in, and has me think at times what actions I can take in order to reduce my impact.

System build 2016. The Intel home server – Update

Update to the 2016 System build. I had thoughts on the power supply, and how much extra power it might be consuming. So I did a test and used the case I used for my 2015 build, an Antec ISK 110 VESA 90W Mini-ITX Case that has its own built-in DC to DC power supply, and move my build to that case, just to see if the power adapter would make a difference. My initial thoughts were that if the power supply is an 80+ PSU, that I might see a drop in anywhere from 3-5 watts. I was not expecting the nearly 20-watt drop, going from my 24-28 watts of power down to 8-10 watts. This system is now in what I consider the raspberry pi killer range of power. With its lack of fan, I am concerned that this unit has the ability to overheat, and will want to monitor it for heat displacement and make sure, I am not overheating it.

–Update 1/19/2017 —

No heat issues what so ever. I installed Mint Linux for the distro. I also have it doing everything my 2015 build did, including crashplan backups. I put my Windows HTPC box on standby mode. While at the time I have an old spare laptop hardrive acting as a drive I can use for recording TV, I ordered a WD Red NAS drive for TV recordings.