Chaos Terminal

You know that wheel scuff repair article that I linked to earlier? I decided to go for it on my most damaged wheel:







The first step is to take the rim off and then tape off the damaged area:






After that, sand off a bulk of the damage with 240 grit sandpaper:






Then, add spot putty and sand with 400 grit over and over until it feels fairly smooth:






Using a scratch filling primer, spray two or three thin layers, just to cover the spot putty:






Spray down three or four thin layers of the wheel paint:





After letting the paint set up for an hour or two, spray a few layers of clear 10 minutes apart. After that, you're done! Granted, the paint didnt quite match the original color, but it was close enough:

Posted by Mike at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have been testing a new device the last week and I feel I've used it enough to post a summary.


Name: HTC Wizard (AKA QTek 9100, IMate KJam)
Specs

• Weight: 160 g
• Dimensions: 108 x 58 x 24 mm
• Screen: 240x320x16bit
• Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 850, 195 MHz
• Memory: 64MB RAM, 128 MB ROM
• Radio: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 EDGE
  
• Bluetooth 1.2
• 802.11g
• 1.3 megapixel camera

The device is a small "slider", meaning that it looks like a normal Pocket PC but you can also expose a keyboard. Unlike previous devices such as the Blue Angel, the keyboard slides out to the side and the screen then flips to landscape mode.


The combination of small size, powerful features (I've been using a Windows Mobile Smartphone for so long I forgot how much is included in Windows Mobile Pocket PC) and speedy data (I'm getting about 150kbps with EDGE) make this just about the perfect device. Some people say that the Universal is going to be the WM device that makes it big. Some people say that is going to be the Tornado. Nay, I say, NAY. It will be the Wizard.

Posted by Mike at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's definitely music to my ears! "We are the Champions" as played on... a Renault F1 engine!

Posted by Mike at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holy hell, a used 2005 Boxster that I was interested in about two months ago is now being listed at a dealer for over $48k. When I was originally interested, the car had fewer miles and I know the car was available since I actually talked to the seller on the phone. I backed out when I realized how expensive the monthly payments would be but payments on $41k wouldn't have been as bad as they would be now!

Posted by Mike at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wow, I just realized I haven't post about the new kitties! Long story short, Kat's parents trapped three kittens outside of her dad's office. Coyotes roam around back there so this was a preventive measure. Here they are:


Jack:




Oliver:




Sadie:




The rest of the pictures are here and here. They are all 12 weeks old (even Jack, who looks half the age of the other two) and other than fleas and worms, are in pretty good shape. Jack has a slightly deformed chest (it seems as if his chest was pressed in from the ventral direction) but the vet said he should grow up healthy though a bit deformed. It took awhile for them to warm up but they are all getting acclimated. The next step is to integrate these three with the existing two kitties, neither of which have been happy about being stuck in the garage for the last two weeks!

Posted by Mike at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)