I’m not a professional network technician, but over the last decade I seem to have acquired a lot of the necessary skills and tools associated with that trade. Yesterday I spent the better part of 2 hours trying to diagnose an intermittent telephone signal, only to discover the source of the problem was the initial wiring performed by the installer. Our telephone signal is delivered via the digital cable that carries our television and broadband connection. The incoming line is routed to a digital telephone adaptor which provides the analog lines for residential use, and these lines are tied to our internal phone system using snap “gel connectors”. I have never considered these types of connectors to be reliable, and they continue to prove my theory correct. So part of the problem was the 3-way connections originally installed by the cable technician.
When we bought the house, one of the internal wiring problems I immediately noticed was the outmoded daisy-chain telephone lines. I found that the telephone lines ran all over the house in a haphazard fashion and were frequently spliced via scotch tape (!) with the red / green wires occasionally reversed. Obviously this was not going to work for me, so I spent several days pulling all of the existing 4-conductor wire out of the walls and pulling new Cat5E home runs from each phone location back to my new network panel. This ensured that each phone line would be correctly installed and would have all 8 conductors wired. While I was at it, I also pulled runs of Cat5E for the internal data network which terminate at a gigabit switch, also at the network panel. With all new voice and data lines going back to a single network termination point, I had reason to assume my internal wiring was not the source of the issue.
Last summer the digital phone technician who came to install our voice lines couldn’t get a decent connection via the punchdown block I installed on the wall. Looking back on the problems he had, I can see that the issue actually stemmed from the gel connectors he used to patch into the voice/data adaptor. His solution was to bypass my punchdown block and wire the whole thing up using gel connectors. It was a mess and I knew it would fly apart at the slightest provocation. Eventually one or more of the connections became intermittent, which resulted in yesterday’s wiring festival. Once I isolated the telephone issue I spent about twenty minutes rewiring the primary feed such that it cleanly terminated at an otherwise unused network patch panel in my rack. I clipped each of the poorly-connected phone lines and re-terminated the lines with RJ-45 connectors, then plugged them into the patch panel. All of the old gel connectors are gone, with each line correctly wired and labeled. Everything is working again and it’s going to be a lot more reliable and easy to service. But how many people happen to have an extra network patch panel in their residence? Or a bag full of RJ-45 connectors and a crimp tool? Or the special tool that installs compression fittings on digital cable? I’m a wire geek with just enough knowledge to be annoying to real network technicians…
At last! The tile installation in our kitchen is complete. We’re still working on the post-grout cleanup. Over the next day or so, we need to wipe down the tile to remove the hazy residue. I’m planning to seal the tile on Wednesday evening and again on Thursday morning. Then on Friday I’ll install the new vent hood. It’s hard to believe we’re finally getting this project near completion, and there will be much rejoicing…
Last night I finished up my take-home project in welding class. My original idea for incorporating smaller design elements proved difficult to accomplish. I just haven’t developed the skill to make those tiny welds. So instead I went in a slightly different direction and made a couple of arguably pointless (but fun) doodads. As expected, welding is a lot of fun. I’m pretty certain a MIG welder is in my future.
My friend Bill put together a couple of pretty useful things in class. His degree in art gives him a pretty serious advantage over the rest of us. I’m glad he was available for consultation during the construction of my project.
All in all, a great class and I’ll definitely take the next on the in series.
Last night was the first meeting of my MIG welding class, which continues through Thursday. I had a great time making my first welds and within an hour it seemed pretty natural to me. My friend Bill and I decided to enroll in the same class, so we’re learning together and will soon (dramatic pause) WELD THE UNIVERSE! Or at least the parts of it that can be welded by a couple of boneheads. Bill has the unfair advantage of (1) having welded once before and (2) actually having artistic skill and training – talents of which I am thoroughly unburdoned. Nevertheless, arcs are flying.
I’ve wanted to learn how to MIG weld for a long time, largely because I have ideas for projects around the house or yard, and in order to address them I need this skill. I’m delighted that it’s relatively easy to learn the basics and that it’s considerably less dangerous than it sounds. Our final class will be focused on our “take home project” and I haven’t yet decided what I want to make. It would be wonderful to put something together that we could actually have on display but until I develop more skill my welds will be of the functional-but-unhandsome variety. Likely it will be a curious yard object, suitable for ivy to grow upon.
Last night I completed the trim work on the wall project at home. It has turned out quite good. I definitely got a lot of benefit from using two great tools on this project: my trusty table saw, and my new compound saw. These tools made it pretty easy to complete the job in decent time and to get clean results. I need to get a compressor and a nail gun to make the installation of trim faster, but even with ye olde hammer, I managed to get the thing done. Next project is likely to be whole-house baseboard moulding, for which the compressor/nail gun combo will be a must-have. Hooray for progress!
We’re almost done with the new granite counter installation in our kitchen, and it’s really turning out to be a beautiful look. The stone we selected is dark (almost black) with 1/4″ flecks of mica and other inclusions. Our kitchen installation was just big enough that we couldn’t do the whole thing with a single slab of granite, so we purchased two and will use the remaining material in another project.
What most amazes me about granite is that it can be worked like wood, using many of the same tools. Naturally, it’s a heck of a lot heavier and requires care to avoid cracking it. But watching our installer saw / drill / rout it, I’m surprised at how cleanly the material can be machined. I guess I would have expected more rough edges and fragmentation.
This is the biggest transformational step in the kitchen remodel, and I’m really glad we went for this look. The next things are to get the window installed and to tile the walls, then I can put the new vent hood above the stove. We may eventuall have this kitchen remodel complete…
One of our ongoing themes at home is projects. We’re in the final stages of a kitchen remodel (hopefully!) and we just couldn’t stand the idea of not having some sawdust flying. So we decided to knock out the wall between the living room and the hallway. Actually, we knocked out just the upper half, but still…
Like always, the demolition stage is therapeutic and goes pretty quick. In this particular case we decided to shore up the header above the new opening for the sake of visual balance and physical support. All that remains now is to do the trim work and some painting. The biggest immediate difference is the amount of light that floods in from the back yard. It provides a fantastic illumination source for living room and brightens up the hallway. There is a wonderful view from both sides, and the space seems larger.
This seems like it must be getting close to being the final wall we could possible take out. The other ones are holding things up, or are necessary for practical reasons. Then again, we haven’t allowed mere practicality to stand in the way of our projects so far… �
A few years ago I purchased a set of Husky brand socket wrenches from Home Depot.
Some worthwhile facts:
Husky tools are sold exclusively at Home Depot
These tools carry a lifetime warranty
According to the Husky tools web site, if you ever have a problem with any of their products, just return it to any Home Depot for cheerful no-questions-asked replacement
Last month I was using my 3/8″ socket wrench for the first time and it broke. It appears the internal ratchet mechanism had a faulty part that sheared off. No big deal… the wrench has a lifetime warranty, and it sounded simple enough to get a replacement.
My absurdist tendencies are always in play, even at the hardware store. Yesterday I attempted to return it to Home Depot and after waiting in line at the returns desk, I had the following experience:
read more…
With the Christmas holiday approaching rapidly, we’ve been trying to get all the shopping / packing / shipping done. And in the midst of all this regular activity we’ve got a kitchen project underfoot. Literally. We’re in the process of having the kitchen floor tiled. I’ll be uploading some pictures to document the project, but we’re not quite done and I want to have that final “all done” image as proof that it really did happen.
In the mean time, we’re prepping for family visits and some festive loafing on the couch. Every year the holidays seem to arrive sooner. I don’t know if this can be blamed on an expanding universe, or whether it’s just that we’re so busy. Seems like a good question for Dr. Feynman.
Well, we’ve done the appliance upgrade and new we’re getting into the core of the kitchen project. There are three major projects that are all inter-related.
read more…
I’m not a professional network technician, but over the last decade I seem to have acquired a lot of the necessary skills and tools associated with that trade. Yesterday I spent the better part of 2 hours trying to diagnose an intermittent telephone signal, only to discover the source of the problem was the initial wiring performed by the installer. Our telephone signal is delivered via the digital cable that carries our television and broadband connection. The incoming line is routed to a digital telephone adaptor which provides the analog lines for residential use, and these lines are tied to our internal phone system using snap “gel connectors”. I have never considered these types of connectors to be reliable, and they continue to prove my theory correct. So part of the problem was the 3-way connections originally installed by the cable technician.