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ZyXEL WAP3205 – Not Recommended
Last Fall, I got it into my head that I needed to upgrade my home network’s wireless access point (WAP). I’d been using an old, but trustworthy, Netgear WG602V2 since around 2001-2002, and while it worked, I was hoping to get something with a bit more range, that supported 802.11N and various newer features. I…
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Riding in 2013 – Another warm winter so far
So it’s 2013, and I’m still riding. A lot has changed with my riding routine this year. For starters, I’m no longer recording ride stats in a spreadsheet. I am using RunKeeper instead, and it’s been a great time saver. I still plan to keep track of mileage for each of my bikes separately, though,…
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Instant Hot Water Tank Repair
One of the must-have appliances in our kitchen is an instant hot-water tap. Once you’ve gotten used to instant cups of hot tea, you’ll never want to be without one. Unfortunately, while these gadgets are a great luxury, they have a reputation for being unreliable. The most popular brand, In-sink-erator, is well known for lasting…
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2012 in review
I ended up 2012 with around 155-160 rides (I got lazy about recording my rides at the end of the year, so I don’t have an exact number). I may stop keeping track of individual rides in 2013 because I’m not getting much out of it any more — I’ll continue to track mileage, mainly…
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That time of year again..
We’re now halfway through November, so I’m once again riding home at dusk. I leave UMBC at 5:00 and get home around 5:45. By Thanksgiving, the sunset will be pushing back towards 4:45. At our latitude/longitude, the earliest sunset is about 4:44pm and usually falls around December 9-10. So the next few weeks will be…
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October Post
I needed to get a blog post in for October, to keep my streak alive: I have managed to write at least one blog entry each month since late 2009. We just survived Hurricane Sandy, which was reportedly the largest storm ever to strike north of Cape Hatteras, and also it’s been quite some time…
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Chain Joinery – Fixing stiff links
I’m still working on getting everything working smoothly with my old ’93 Specialized Rockhopper, after replacing the chain, cassette, front cranks and sprockets. To compensate for larger chainrings, I ended up having to add a couple of links to my chain, and I thought I’d pass on a tip. I have always found it frustrating…
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Drive Train
We’re now about midway through September. The first week of September featured weather similar to the inside of a gym locker room. This past week, the weather has been beautiful. We’ll see what the rest of the month holds. I haven’t ridden my mountain bike since I broke my chain a few weeks back. I…
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Summer’s End
Labor Day weekend is looming, the kids are back in school, the traffic is back in the mornings, and multiple tropical systems are swirling around the Atlantic. Must be the end of August. This time last year, we had just survived Hurricane Irene, and were bracing for Tropical Storm Lee. Hopefully, September 2012 will be…
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Breaking the Chain
You’d think after 4 years of bike commuting, I’d have seen every bike malfunction possible. But today on the way in to work, my chain snapped. That was a first. As Murphy’s Law would dictate, it happened while I was crossing an intersection in traffic, going uphill, trying to make a left turn. At first…