Where Have We Been

April 25, 2010

Spring and summer is almost here, and with it comes sports and activities to keep us busy. Landscaping needs to be done, outside house repairs and of course trying to keep an eye on the kids as they run around the cul-de-sac.

Brandon started baseball a few weeks back, this year it is machine pitch. I was surprised that on his first at bat during practice he managed to hit 3 out of the 5 pitches. Here is a picture of him playing the pitcher position. He was able to make a good stop and throw to first to try to get the runner out.

Both boys are in swimming. Aiden either is really excited to go or complains the whole time until he is in the water and then he does not want to get out. Brandon is doing better and has almost made it across the pool with out stopping, but of course he still sinks once he stops. I have been trying to help Brandon when we get the pool, he loves to try kicking the air outside of the water which is not helping him move much.

The last few weekends we have been making some minor landscaping changes. We took out the flower garden in the front of our house as it just was a haven for weeds after the spring flowers bloomed. We also removed all the mulch around our backyard patio. We replaced the mulch with keystone rocks and also tried to accent the rock stepping stones with grass seed. Of course it rained hard the day after we seeded so I except to see all the grass growing in the rocks and not around the stepping stones. The picture above is the future home to the grass. Here is one of Aiden helping with the river rock we used in the front.

Today we bought Aiden his first bike. From when we got home until almost bedtime he was out riding it around. He also loved to inform all the neighbors and neighborhood kids about his new bike. I hope he will enjoy it enough so I can stop having to bolt on the bike trailer on our family outings!

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Laundry Room Project

January 23, 2010

Time to kick off 2010 with a home improvement project, updating our laundry room.  We have decided to replace our wire shelving with some cabinets and while we are at it repainting the room.

This Friday I took a vacation day to start on the project.  After Brandon left for school and Aiden was at day care I immediately jumped into action as “Handy Man”.  I moved the dryer and washer away from the wall, disconnected the gas line and saw the first obstacle, 6 years worth of dust and grime.  Vacuum in hand, I spent the next ten minutes sucking up the dirt and grime, emptying the container and finding where a few of those lost socks ended up.

After detour number one the next step was removing the existing wire shelving.  With the right tools the crappy shelving was gone in minutes, just gaping holes left in the wake.  After patching the holes with spackle it was time for the first break of the day to let it cure.

Sanding was performed after an extended break (how did the kids get home already?) and it was edging time. Friday night and the priming coat was done.

Saturday was two quick coats of paint, not much to mention here other than we had a few helpers, thanks Brandon and Aiden.

After the paint was dry I got to hang our cabinets and install the doors and finally reuse the wire shelving above the sink to allow us to drip dry some laundry.

Successful project one done!

Rick out.

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Quick hack for those with garage heaters

October 19, 2009

A little background before I dive into how to make your garage heater a bit more smart. I live in Minnesota and it gets cold in the winter. For the past two years I have enjoyed a warm garage by the means of a natural gas heater. This heater has a traditional thermostat to control the temperature which I usual set to a bit over 50 degrees. Enough to melt the snow and allow me to work in my garage with out a jacket.

The one major problem is that the heater has no idea when the garage door is open. It will happily keep on pumping out the heat even when the door has been left open. With kids in the house and sitters the door sometimes gets left open and I come home to the garage heater going.

With a small bit of effort I remedied this by installing a switch on the garage door so the heater does not heat when the door is fully open. The switch is wired so that the heater still has power which is important to allow it to cool down if it was running before turning off. It also allows the heater to still run if I need to crack the door to ventilate the garage for painting or staining projects.

The basic wiring idea is to wire the switch onto the common line (W on most thermostats) of the thermostat. In my installation I had the momentary switch set to be Normally Closed, NC, so that by default the thermostat works and only when the switch is pushed in will it break the circuit which lets the heater think the space is warm enough and stop heating.

So to start with lay your wiring from the thermostat with about a foot extra and along the ceiling to the top path of your garage door. At this point you will use your scrap wood to mount the switch in such a fashion so that when the door is fully open it pushes the switch. I just opened my garage door and mounted the boards in place so I did not have to guess. (See the below images as a guide).

For the wood scraps, one board I fit into the garage door track which had two available screw holes I could mount wood screws through to secure the board. To that board I mounted another at a 90 degree angle to attach the switch. I had a left over arcade button from a previous arcade build that I attached to the switch but this is not entirely needed. Just one more screw holds that in place. The painters tape was just used to hold the board in place long enough for me to screw it in place and also to hold the speaker wires I used. The screws along the back side ensure there is no play in the switch so it will not get loose over time.

After securing the wires to the wall and switch it is time to wire to the thermostat. I forgot to take pictures of this but it is simple enough. Just open up your thermostat and you will see two or three screw posts. W, and Rh, Rc (or just R). Unscrew the wire that is currently connected to W, attach one end of your new wire in it’s place. Then solder or wire nut together the original wire and your second strand of wire from your switch. Close the thermostat up and crank the temperature to test. Ensure the heater turns on with the switch not clicked, and that when you do hold the switch the heating element turns off. The fan may still be running to cool the unit and that is as designed.

A problem you may face is that you wired the switch up to be NO, Normally Opened, instead of NC. This would result in the heater only working when the switch is pushed in. Ensure you have the current momentary switch and have your wires attached correctly so it is NC, Normally Closed.

Now enjoy your warm garage with out having to worry about if you are wasting money when your garage door is opened. Also to the right in case you are wondering, is a picture of my thermostat, again just a standard model nothing special.

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Goodbye Max, we will miss you

August 30, 2009

This weekend we had to give Maximus to a new home. This has been a decision we have been fighting for the last year. This past month Aiden’s allergies took a turn for the worse so we knew we had to make the hard choice. Thanks to a great organization called Rescue A Golden Of Mn, RAGOM, within 3 days Max has been placed at a foster home until his new home is determined.

While this has been a sad day on us we know it is the right thing for Aiden’s best interests. We will always remember the smiles and joy he brought to our home. He was there during the hardest parts of our lives and helped us through them. It is hard to imagine coming home everyday and not be greeted by a wagging tail and a slobbery kiss. While that is true I am sure Max will do his best to put the smiles on his new owners faces and bring them the same joy he shared with us for many years.

Max, you will always be in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers.

(Until I can upload pics you can go to his old gallery: HTTP://gallery.fryar.org/ )

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Quick Update

August 5, 2009

Just wanted to write a quick update since it has been a few weeks.

We have been to a number of fairs and events this summer and that has been keeping us really busy. The boys really enjoyed the antique tractor’s and log cabin pioneer village in Hastings a few weeks back.

This past weekend we went to the Washington Country fair, again the kids had a great time and did not want to leave. The car also almost did not let us leave.. At some point the battery acid leaked from Danith’s van’s battery and corroded through the terminal connectors. It was corroded so badly it took a number of hours and the help of her parents to get the correct parts to limp us home. I spent most of the next day grinding off a bolt to replace the terminal connectors.

Last night we were able to go on a family bike ride. I got to toy with a new program on my phone called “Sporty Pal”. This uses the GPS on my phone to track speed and map out the route we took. Below is the 3.2 Mile route through the neighborhood. Looks like a perfect 5K training run, next time.

Hope to post again soon.

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