Log 2014112901

This post was in my drafts and was written prior to this date.

I installed No Signal Alert Pro and Voice Recorder by First75 on my Android smartphone this evening.  While the only place to test this is down trail at this point, I'm feeling confident that the "signal lost" and "signal regained" with me being the voice of the computer will work and give me auditory notifications of such events, especially when I'm looping to, or back on bicycle. Also, I'll be able to turn the smartphone on just before an anticipated area of coverage to make updates to Facebook and family. The new voice recorder app now lets me record in .amr format, which is needed for the computer to pick them up as notification sounds in the directory: mnt\sdcard\sounds and make them available in the No Signal Alert Pro's properties menu.

There's been problems trying to get this to work right.  So far, I tested those sounds and everything seems to work as it should.  Also, the signal lost sound with also be simultaneous with the "red alert" klaxon that I have as a part of my ST: Red Alert, or Star Trek wallpaper.  This and the app are necessary to facilitate my custom signal alerts.

I went shopping at Century Cycles in Peninsula of Summit County today.  That's where I dropped off the 30 year old refurbished road bike that I recently purchased to get a new rear rack and grip tape installed.  I managed to purchase a new 750 lumen head lamp with an internal and rechargeable Lithium ion battery.  At 750, I'm at a loss for words.  I'm not sure that I can properly comprehend how much light that is?  The best thing that I have is only about a 140 lumen hand flash light and I think that thing impressive. To use a religious metaphor, a 750 might open a gateway to God.

Log 2014091901

The current mileage on my 2008 Chevy HHR LS is as pictured.

I had cause to check the rear drum brakes for fallen hardware. Turns out the the spring in the rear driver's side drum did fall, but the rear passenger's side remained mounted. But I have reason to believe that the drums are warped. That's because neither side would re-mount with out an excessive amount of coaxing. Tensioning too little will make the spring's hook too loose to stay in its hole, causing it to come unmounted, then the tension rod drops to the bottom of the brake shoes and starts rubbing on the drum as it rotates when the car's in motion.

If it's too tight, the tensioner is too far out and the drum won't mount. And I think that my rotary are warped because I'm unable to find the "happy medium" that mounts the drum and keeps the spring tensioned at the same time.

On the rear driver's side, I was able to get it on, but wasn't able to rotate the drum. But the car rolled down the driveway and down the street afterwards. As for the passenger's side rear tensioning spring... last time when I serviced the brakes, I cheated mounted it's hook further on another hole. I wonder what the implications of that will be?

Log 2014030604

When the cell phone number porting from Sprint to Verizon took place today, my old Sprint service was canceled.  I didn't know that until just now called Sprint with the intention of canceling it myself.  I was able to log into my account online with them, but as their representative told me that Sprint is now prorating 25 days off of my April bill.  Right now, it's at $87.14 in the positive, so, I'll probably get some of that back.

In the meantime, I ordered a Polar H7 Bluetooth heart rate monitor today from hrmusa on eBay for $58.77.  When working out, there are three heart rates that depend on your age and height.  They are your "target," "cardio" and "maximum."  Target is good for optimal for burning fat, while "cardio" is good for building muscle.  And lastly, maximum is something you shouldn't train at, or you risk damaging yourself.

The best hiker is almost always a lighter one.  And I can stand to use some weight and body fat.  Since I've been on the bike, it's apparent that I could use some muscle.  Now, that I'm cleared to go to the gym and because of my height, I don't reach the heart rate telemetry straps on the treadmill handle with out bending over.  Previously, I had a heart rate monitor which fed my readings to an electronic wrist watch.  I've since lost that unit and now, it just makes more sense to interface the chest strap into my smartphone.  At least this way, I can check my heart rate on my bike while my smartphone is mounted to the handlebar instead of having to take my left hand and arm away, which disturbs my balance and how I'm mounted to the bike.

Lastly, my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone's battery has been holding up quite well today.  I don't think that it's been plugged in since noon and I was streaming Pandora internet radio to my Bluetooth headset while I was riding my bike to Dick's Sporting Goods and back.

Log 2013083001

I got the bicycle's rear wheel out of the shop for about $58. When I got it back, I realized that it had low tread and the technician said it has between 100 - 200 miles on it.  That won't even survive the next hike.  With the way that I switched from this to chubbys, then studdeds in the months prior, I don't think these tires have more than 300mi on them.  This is an Innova 14 - 2011 - 5, 26 x 2.10 (56 - 559) rear mountain bike tire.
The bike shop also informed me that tires can go between 1,000 to 5,000 miles.  But department store tires can go bad between 200 - 500 miles.  In this case, my bike was purcased  from Dick's Sporting goods.
The spokes seem to have a wider diameter and I hope they'll be stronger.

Log 2013082701

I've been getting to bed late these past two nights.  Today the toilet in the camper I'm staying at was leaking.  It appears that it likes to run a little longer.  Lucky for me, there was a towel in the closet.  And there was only a slight trickle of water anyways, but I had to put two rugs outside on the deck.  Yesterday, I got $6 in quarters for the laundry.  I also went grocery shopping and got some TV dinners and oven pizzas.  The driver's side tail light finally blew, so I stopped by the auto parts store and picked up a replacement, while pricing a new power inverter.  If I get it by the first, I can have 2000 watts for about $170.  Whether the DC to AC inverter will convert into a AC to DC converter with the use a double male outdoor extension cord (male on both ends) and not blow up my car or catch fire is still a question.  The thing it does have is leads to my battery, which my deep cycle batteries on the trailer will be hooked to with bullets that separate the line when it's unhitched. It ought to charge the whole system?

I checked the rear wheel of my mountain bike into the shop again.  This time it's being serviced at A & B Hobbies & Cycles in Sandusky of Erie County.  I'm having every spoke replaced with stainless steel.  Apparently, mine were already steel, but their quality might be in question.  They say that the spokes were probably going to cost about $36 to replace.  And the technician there was telling me that the true on that wheel should last for many months on road.  At present, I'm lucky to get 70 miles, which I can put on in a single week. This bike is going back to Southern Ohio in 19 days.

I also looked at CDMA cell phone repeaters "for the car."  That's one thing that I did not check into when I purchased my cell phone repeater that is for a 1,000 sq meter building.  Apparently, my repeater can boost the cell phone signal over a luxurious house.  Oh well, it will be on eBay soon.