Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Ah laziness

I am lazy and I'm also a gadget freak so when I saw the new Scrubbing Bubbles shower cleaner I had to have one. I didn't expect that it would work very well because of the poor performance of gimmicky things in the past. Well I was very surprised by it.

I wish I had taken before and after pictures now because the difference would amaze you. I moved into a new apartment on June 1st and I've been using the shower cleaner for about the last month. The shower is the typical apartment shower that has seen a lot of use and a lot less cleaning so it wasn't looking the best. The chrome was covered in hard water spots and my poor cleaning had resulted in a good soap scum build up. That is all gone now.

I noticed about a week ago that the shower seemed shinier and thought it was my imagination but Lindsay agrees with me. Now the tap shines and reflects light. The tiles near the bottom which normally would be dull from soap scum are showing reflections like they were new. Even the caulking is bright white again. It is very easy to use, just press the button after your shower and it sprays solution all over to clean your shower.

Now it isn't without its downsides. I can't use my shower caddy anymore and that annoys me. I like having everything in easy reach and I can't have that with the cleaner hanging around the shower head. This isn't a huge problem as the cleaner makes sure that no mold or anything grows on my shampoo bottle that is constantly in the wet now. It also leaves a bit of a chlorine smell in the morning. This is a little unpleasent but isn't a deal breaker.

When I bought mine there was a special deal on with a $5 coupon on the website as well as a $5 coupon on the box so it was half price for me. I noticed that the $5 coupon is no longer on the website but I'm sure some of the boxes still have a coupon on them. There is also a $5 coupon included in the box so the first person who can guess what number between 1 and 10 that I am thinking of can have it.

So while the automatic shower cleaner isn't Rosie the robotic maid from the Jetsons, it's one step closer.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Pluto, you're still a planet to me.

So its official, Pluto is no longer a planet. Well that isn't exactly true either, it is a dwrarf planet, not a classical planet like the other 8. It falls under the umbrella of being a planet but it isn't really.

Now I grew up with people teaching that Pluto was a planet, but we all knew all along that it wasn't really. It is much smaller than the other planets, it doesn't really fit in where it is. Jupiter through Neptune are "Gas Giants" and pluto is this little rock smaller than our moon. Even if you ignore that you can't ignore its orbit. Which is off the plane of the other planets and even brings it in closer than Neptune sometimes. This really doesn't seem like a planet.

I am kind of sad to see it loose its planet status though, I think it should have been grandfathered in as a planet since it has been considered one since the 1930's when it was discovered. It just doesn't seem right to take that way from Pluto now.

CNN has a pretty good story about the whole situation here

I was a little dissapointed that they did not rename Pluto as a double planet with its moon. Charon is about half the size of Pluto but it is large enough that they actually orbit a point in space between each other. I thought it would have been pretty cool to have a double planet system in our solar system but it was not to be.

If you want more information wikipedia has a great article on Pluto and its moons.

Oh and incase anyone is wondering, Pluto is not named after a cartoon dog. Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

My spoon is too big

Now I'll admit that I may not have the most "normal" sense of humor but I found this hilarious. If you have around nine minutes to spend watching some great animation, watch this. Afterwards look around on youtube and google video for some more. I recommend "Genre"



For the love of god and everything holy my anus is bleeding!

Friday, August 18, 2006

Drag racing Rox0rz

I'm not a complete stranger to the drag strip, I've even gone down it about a half a dozen times, as a passenger though. It is fun as a passenger but it doesn't even come close to driving. Over the last few weeks I've been stealing away evenings, hence the lack of posts, to work on a car with Tristan from work. He had an 80 chev malibu with no motor. He also had a 350 from the junk yard so for about $500 total we put together a low 14 second car. Well I helped build it that is, I didn't put any money in. It was a great learning experience but I don't know how much I actually helped, I probably just slowed down the whole process. Either way I had fun.

So tonight we went out to the Friday night street legal drags and got a few runs in. Tristan did a couple of shake down runs and then it was my turn. I was nervous and sweating and shaking but I got up there and did it. I even cut a good light and if I wasn't a moron I would have beat my first competitor. I saw the mph trap line and let off... too bad the finish line is another 60ft after that. Damnit. Here is my time slip from my first run (I was in the left lane both times)*:


(I ran a 15.366 @ 89.473 mph with a 0.128 light)
* the dot matrix printing doesn't scan worth a shit but you can still make out the numbers if you squint and tilt your head to the left a bit.

OK I'm primed now and raring to go. I've got all the starters signals figured out, I can keep the car running and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm still shaking but for a different reason now. I'm not nervous at all. I'm pumped. I pull up beside this neon and destroy him on the tree, at 60 ft I've still got a narrow lead and I beat him by almost a full second at the other end. Man this is fun.


(I ran a 14.864 @ 95.838 mph and a 0.207 light)

After all this all Tristan can talk about is what needs to be done to the car. It's got tons of power from 3000 to 6000 but is a real dog off the line. The next steps will be some 4.60 gears and a 10" converter. He figures that the car can get into the high 12's. I can't wait to see that.

So what have I learned from all this? Well you can put a car together for $500 and a few evenings and go run with almost anyone out there. I think this really burns some of the guys asses but others are impressed at how well the little oxidized yellow malibu runs. The other thing I figured out is that I'm going to have to ride my uncles ass to get his '64 belvedere 440 sixpak running. I'm shaking already.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

New addition to the family

Ah don't worry, I just meant I got a new lantern. Here are some pictures.



It is a 3/70 200A made in the USA. I purchased off of eBay. I wanted a ready to run 200A because I'm getting a bistro set for the balcony and I wanted this lantern for that. I do still want to get a frosted globe for it, but that'll have to wait until next month.

As you can see we are in the apartment. That was also part of the reason I bought a ready to run lantern as I have no where to work on one right now. Lindsay wouldn't appreciate solvent all over the kitchen table!

On the upside the A/C now works. Before it was just a handy shelf outside when I was BBQing, but no more. Now we can enjoy artifically cooled air at home, albeit just in the living room but it helps take the edge off.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

For some reason I like doing these and I found these ones over at Breakfast Meat

You Are 70% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care.
Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.


Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional

Your General Knowledge is Exceptional


Your Penis Name Is...

Prince Charming


Your 2005 Song Is

Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz

"Love forever love is free.
Let's turn forever you and me."

In 2005, you were loving life and feeling no pain.


Your Political Profile:
Overall: 70% Conservative, 30% Liberal
Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal
Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal
Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal
Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal