Pink Hydrangea Flowers June 2013

Pink hydrangea flowers blooming in Louisville, Kentucky, USA (June 2013).

Purple Balloon Flowers June 2013

It is a good year for the balloon flower plant. The plant is producing a lot of nice purple balloon flowers this season. Very nice!

Revised Outlet Illustration

Revised image from earlier in the week. Changed coloring on screw and tried a more 3D coloring effect on outlet perimeter. Image generated using Adobe Illustrator CS5.

Updated Electrical Outlet

I have updated the look of an electrical outlet created in Adobe Illustrator back in 2009.

Still need adjustments to the text on plug.

Da Hua

One of the big red amaryllis flowers is blooming in June 2013. It started with just one plant I was given maybe back in 2002 and it has since become 5 plants. The original one bloomed last month and its bloom stem has black seed pods on it now. The stem will eventually fall over and release the seeds.








This tall stem system I think helps the plant propagate. The stem is about 50 cm tall and it will fall to ground spreading the seeds that distance from the parent plant. If the seeds take root the children will be some distance from the parent plant thus it does not directly compete for the nutrients and water of that plant. Note, I have not verified how the plant works the above is just my conjecture. The plant in the past produces another bulb that I eventually transfer to another planter.







As for the term "da hua" it is Chinese for "big flower". I learned that watching this Taiwanese drama King Flower (金大花的華麗冒險). See this site for episodes: http://sugoideas.com/idol-dramas/2013drama/king-flower/ (ones with English subtitles: http://www.dramacrazy.net/taiwanese-drama/substitute-princess/). Watching these shows is one way to learn the language... right?

As for the drama, it is pretty silly, illogical, and fun. As with most TV shows turn off some of your cognitive brain functions and think of it as entertainment time.  Some great recaps were done by Ms. Koala at this web link: http://koalasplayground.com/tag/king-flower/.

The show also has a catchy and upbeat song from the Dream Girls group seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w20itscV45M

Silhouette of Japan Overlaid on Japanese Flag

Another Adobe Illustrator creation with a silhouette of the country of Japan accompanied by the Kanji for Japan. All of this overlaid on the flag of Japan.

I like it for its simplicity and sharp colors. An interesting exercise in contrast.

American Logo Done in Illustrator

Having some fun with Adobe Illustrator... the go to tool when creating vector graphics.

Here is an American flag embedded into the outline of the United States.

Telsa S 60

While in Indianapolis at a family gathering, a relative was showing us a new car. It is the Telsa S 60 and it is quite a car. All electric and very quiet, it makes a good impression. The door handles recede into the doors until the key is detected nearby, they then protrude out. There is no engine compartment, the front hood covers a storage area and the back is room from two seats so the car can hold 7 passengers.

The charging connector is not that big and fits in a port behind the driver side reflector.

 Charging port shown in next picture.

 The front dash display has access to a rear camera for backing up. It also can access the Internet to get news and driving information.

 Disc brakes help the car stop and I am not sure if they are regenerative or not.

 View of what the driver sees on their display.

 Look at whats under the front hood...not quite what one expects!

Spring Flowers in Indianapolis

 I took some pictures while at a family get together in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. This first picture is that of a daffodil.

 The next picture is of a grape hyacinth

 This is the purple flower of the vinca plant.

 A trusted spring flower and bane to yards everywhere... the dandelion.

Last, a yellow tulip flower not quite fully opened yet though.

Vinca Flowers

Here are flowers from a variegated vinca plant (Vinca major). It is blooming in the spring of 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Peach Blossoms April 2013

Another sign of spring arriving, the peach trees are showing their pink flowers. Here is hoping for another good peach crop for this season!

First Flowers of Spring 2013

Spring has arrived in Louisville Kentucky at least on the calendar. It is subfreezing right now but earlier in the week the daffodils started blooming. Here are pictures of miniature ones in the flower bed.

Repairing the Dishwasher Rack

After about 15 years of use this dishwasher started to lose the rubber seal that protects the metal frame that holds dishes and glasses to be washed. The bottom rack had the most erosion as can be seen on the above images. The top rack had smaller spots that were starting to rust.

In order to fix this, I went to Home Depot and bought some rubber like compound for about $5. It was called ReRACK Dishwasher Rack Repair from Performix. It is a small bottle of a white fluid that has brush on the bottom of the cap.

First I removed the rack from the dish washer. I then cleaned the spots off and removed loose pieces of rubber to expose the metal frame well. The pieces of rusted metal were then filed down to expose bare metal.

The metal pieces were then coated with rubber compound. I waited about 15 minutes between coats to let the fluid set up. I then rotate the frame to make sure the compound was coating the exposed areas. The frame was left for 24 hours to set up.

Repairing Chip in Stovetop

Flat top stoves are great when it comes to cleaning. The stove top can be bordered by an enamel trim. Our stove top border got chipped recently and I wanted to try and repair it. As it turns out there is a product you can buy called Rust-Oleum Specialty Appliance Epoxy Touch-Up. I found some at Home Depot for around $5.

It turned out to be a pretty simple process. Make sure the burners and oven are off and the appliance is cool to the touch. First you clean the area to be fixed. I used some isopropyl alcohol to clean. Next I shook the bottle of epoxy and then uncapped it. The cap has a brush. I lightly applied the first coat in to the chip area using a long stroke. Next I let it dry and then applied another coat. You do this till the layers build up and the chip is filled in.

As you can see from the below pictures it is not a perfect fix but it looks much better. From a distance and at  certain viewing angles one cannot tell it was repaired. What I am trying to determine if it can be sanded to make the repaired spot so it will be come flush with the rest of the stove border.

Repairing Garage Door Opener

Yesterday the garage door opener (Craftsman 1/2 HP Model 139.53975SRT1) stopped raising the door. The motor would turn but it would not move the chain that pulls the door up. In the last few weeks the door was not going all the way up on the first attempt so I sprayed silicon on the door joints. Since the temperatures in the area were at freezing or below freezing it seemed like the joints maybe getting stiff which caused the opener to stop due too much force being used to pull the door up.

One test I did was to detach the opener trolley from the arm that is used to move the door up and down. I then opened and closed the door manually to see if it was sticking or hard to move up and down. It was not.
Once the door quit moving, I took the casing off the opener and saw the issue. The plastic drive gear's teeth were stripped off thus unable to drive the gear moving the chain.

As it turned out a number of year's ago I was fixing another garage door opener that had been damaged by lightning. It turned out that replacing the damaged part costs just about as much as a new opener. So the homeowner opted to buy a new opener instead of waiting for a part to be shipped in. After working on it, I stored the old opener will all the other parts from the new one in the loft at my father's garage. Luckily, one of those parts (part # 41C4220A) helped fix the opener.

First, the eight screws need to be removed from around the opener outer casing (use 1/4" hex socket). The casing can then be removed. Next, the chain need to be detached from the trolley threaded shaft. This action allows the chain be removed from the opener sprocket on top of the opener. After this remove gear and sprocket assembly that has three hex head screws keeping it in place (use 5/16" hex socket). It is a little tricky removing one of the screws close to the motor. I had to use a couple of tools to leverage the ratchet to  remove the screw.

There is plastic gear at the bottom of the part shaft. It is called the limit switch drive & retainer. The plastic retainer clip needs to be removed which will allow the switch drive gear to be removed. The entire assembly can then be removed.

The new assembly can be slid into place and the three screws put in place to fasten it. Reattach the chain to the  opener sprocket and then fasten the chain to the trolley threaded shaft. Make sure the chain is not twisted when being put back on. The down and up adjustments might need to be made so the door will properly open and close. Last put the opener housing back on.

When I took off the housing the first time, white plastic shavings could bee seen from damaged gear. This opener had been in use 12 years before it failed.