Do You Believe in the Crazy Train?

Greetings friends,

I tried my hand at a music mash-up between Crazy Train by Ozzy Ozbourne and Do You Believe in Love? by Huey Lewis and the News. I've had this in my mind for a while and always thought the two songs would make a decent mash-up. I'm happy with how it all came together, though my least favorite part is the bridge section from DYBiL, but it's fine enough I think. I hope you enjoy it, and I'd love to hear feedback if anyone has comments!

Thanks,

Juju

Never Make Changes on a Friday: A Houseplant Story

Greetings friends,

This is a lesson I learned the (thankfully not too) hard way this weekend... I think this can be applied to any situation where last minute changes to an existing system are made before being left alone for some time (weekends, holidays, vacation, etc.). At least in this case, the error didn't cause a catastrophe, but it did drive home the point that I shouldn't make changes before leaving home for a few days...

I've collected orchids for nearly 3 years now and my collection has grown to the size where I decided to set up a system that would water my orchids automatically, particularly the ones that require daily watering. My orchids have been living on a steel rack that I'd outfitted with LED grow lights, so it was a relatively simple matter to integrate the water misting system into the rack as well.

I bought a water pump, misting nozzles, and some plastic hose to get the whole system set up. It was a bit tedious but with some time and a lot of zip-ties, I got everything integrated and functional! I used an interval timer to set the watering frequency. I temporarily used a gallon milk jug as my water source which only needed refilling every 2-3 days.

Misting nozzles are strategically placed..

The mistake I made was, just before a long weekend road trip, swapping the gallon jug for a 2-gallon food prep bucket. I hadn't taken time to test it (ideally for at least a day or two) and assumed it would work. Unfortunately, the vibrations from the pump caused the hose to slowly shimmy its way out of the bucket, until the pump was just pumping air... Funny thing is, while on the road to our destination, it crossed my mind that this was a possibility, so I felt really dumb when I came home to find it had happened.. Luckily we were only gone for 4 days, so luckily no plants were damaged. I immediately switched back to my milk jug setup, and ordered a new 5-gallon bucket and some brass fittings to make a much more fool-proof system. I drilled a hole near the bottom of the bucket and hooked up a barbed spigot. Now I have a full 5 gallon reservoir, and no parts are able to wiggle themselves free!

Simple, elegant(?), problem solved!

I'm happy how easy this fix was, and with no trips planned for a while, I'll be able to monitor the bucket and make sure it's functioning properly! Hopefully anyone reading this can learn this lesson from my mistake; never make changes on a Friday!!

Thanks for reading,

Juju

Bicycle Upgrades

 Greetings friends,

This is a quick post and not so much an "I made it" kind of project, but a project nonetheless. I wanted to write it up, if for no other reason than to make a post and to review the items I purchased for upgrading my bicycle.

With summer finally making its appearance here in the PNW, I figured it was time to dust off the old bike, and go for some rides. My bike is an old 1986 Trek 1000 that came with standard drop bars and brakes when I bought it used. I found the brakes on the drop bars to be uncomfortably low, requiring me to move my hands down whenever I wanted to apply them. I decided that a straight bar would be better suited for my riding style (commuting and trail cycling).

I purchased a Nitto B2500 straight bar which although slightly heavier than the aluminum drop bars, is very sturdy and is much shorter in length, giving it an overall agile feel. For the new brake levers, I bought a pair of Shimano Tiagra BL-4700 levers. These brake levers are very simple and compact; a benefit of having my shifters on the down-tube of my bike meant I didn't need to buy brake levers with integrated shifters.

Installing everything was done in a matter of a half-hour, though I was sure to test the angle of the brake levers for comfort before tightening them down fully. Once I had the brake levers hooked up to the calipers, I took the bike for a spin down to our local used-bike store to buy some grip tape. I opted for tape both because I think rubber grips don't match the look of my bike well and because I like the feel of cork tape much better.

With that, the upgrade is done! I'm really happy with the overall look, and the function is even better. The straight bar allows me to sit more upright, and the unobtrusive brake levers are positioned perfectly for quick use. I often switch my grip from the ends of the bars to the center if I'm cruising on long stretches, and having a shorter straight bar means I don't have to move my hands nearly as far to access my brakes.

Thanks for reading,

Juju