Archive for January, 2011

Basement renovation progress

I finally got around to leveling the kitchen floor.  I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to do it, other than wanting to make sure I did it right.  The floor is sloped down a bit into the bathroom area, and the place where the kitchen sink cabinet would go is about an inch and three-eighths below the surrounding area on one side.  So what I began doing yesterday was leveling the floor an inch on that side, and allowing it to gently fill the slope to a flat, level surface. 

I’m using leveling cement to do the job.  I’ve placed painted pieces of wood all around the edges of the area I’m going to fill, to make it easier to remove the pieces once I’m done.  The wood pieces are from three-eighths to a half an inch thick, to allow plenty of expansion room between the leveling cement area and the wall studs.  I’ve already primed the area using the recommended latex floor primer, and the next step was to mix up the cement and pour it out.

While waiting for the primer to dry, I also did some water system maintenance yesterday by changing out the carbon filter.  I do that about every three months, and it was about time.  I would have done it the other day with changing out the sediment filter, except that we had run out of carbon filters and therefore I had to go to the store to get some.  So that’s another project done. Read more…

Looking back on the first week of class

I’m just now sitting down today to do my blog post.  Today is Friday but it’s been a busy day!  We did our recycling trip and had a wonderful lunch out, then did some water system maintenance and filled some orders.  I’ve been slow to get to my blog posts this week because I’ve been staying pretty busy with things.  For example, I have my Electrical Wiring book to study.  I have my notes from Basic Wiring class to study.  I have orders to do maybe 2-3 times a day.  There are meal times that take up some time, errands to run, and other household things that need doing. I get a nap for 2 hours a day, which is much needed in the early afternoon so I can make it into the evening. During my free time, I like to use my iPad to surf the web, and that probably takes up at least an hour a day, maybe two.  So I stay pretty busy during the day.

Thinking ahead to Solar Technology

But right now, as I sit at my iPad, I am developing some warm thoughts about my upcoming Solar Technology class.  I’m really waiting for that class to start.  It won’t start until February 7, which is 24 days away.  Basic Wiring is nice, but we won’t get to cover anything directly related to solar energy in that class.  The focus is primarily on residential wiring.  It is lots of useful and practical information that electricians working on houses will have to know all the time, but I want to know how to install and wire up solar panels.  The closest I think I will get is wiring up a cable to a service panel, which will be necessary to do in order to install inverters and AC disconnects. Read more…

Working on my new iPad

My iPad first entered my life on January 9, 2010, from the Apple Store at Crabtree Valley Mall. It was a surprise getting it, since I had always thought it would be neat to have one, but I hadn’t had any serious plans to get one. That all changed when we visited a friend of my husband’s, who had an iPad of his own and who let me play with it for a while. We were hooked, and the very next day we paid a visit to the nearest Apple Store on our way back.

The idea was that we would use the iPad for photo storage and Internet use on vacation trips, or whenever we would be out for a while and near a wi-fi area. However, it’s also become my primary web surfing tool. I didn’t turn on my laptop all day yesterday!

Three days later, and I still love my iPad. It is the ultimate in portability, allowing me to access the Internet virtually anywhere I need to. I can check my email, visit websites, and even do my blogging, as I’m doing this very moment. I can also read tons of PDF files at my leisure, and that along with web surfing is a great experience on my iPad compared to my laptop. Read more…

First day at Durham Tech

Yesterday I had my first class at Durham Tech. I got up at 6 AM sharp, then got ready to leave around 6:45. It wasn’t too hard to get ready to go at all, since I had practiced it a number of times. And although I had only tried the drive to Durham Tech’s main campus once, I made it today taking a new route just fine. I went down a road that was much less traveled for about half the time, then took Highway 147 the other half of the time. I got to campus at 7:15, and secured the third parking spot in front of the building.

I walked inside, and the classroom was still closed. I next checked out the lounge for internet access, which was very easy to find. I sent my husband an email to test out my connection. I didn’t stick around too many minutes; about the time that I was getting ready to leave another person walked in and asked if that was the student lounge. I said yes, and went on my way. Little did I know that he was one of the students who would soon be in my class.

The classroom door finally opened a few minutes later, but nobody was inside. There were 2 people outside though, probably waiting to go in. I went inside and took some pictures of the class because of all the interesting equipment that was laying around. Read more…

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Last day before school

Well, it looks like this is the last day I will have to wait before I go back to school! I’ve been reading through my textbook for Basic Wiring I, and I’ve downloaded a copy of the NABCEP PV Installer study guide to my new iPad to study in my free time (it has more content than the NABCEP entry level exam, which is the one I will be taking, but it won’t hurt to know the extra information especially when I might be taking the NABCEP PV Installer exam someday).

I decided to try a new route to school tomorrow, and leave 30 minutes earlier than i did last time to avoid the sun shining in my eyes while driving. It will take me through a less-traveled portion of town initially, then output me right onto Highway 147.

Class will start bright and early at 8 AM tomorrow, and last until 11:35. I’m excited – we’ll see how it goes!

My first trip to Durham Tech’s main campus

More than enough excitement for the day

Today was the most tiring day in a while. I woke up at 6:35, left around 7:15, and took 25 minutes to get to Durham Tech’s main campus in a drive that just fell short of harrowing at times. The traffic was not any heavier than usual, but what made it so difficult was having to adjust to the changing light conditions at first. Then came the full blazing sun, shining right in my eyes for long stretches of time while I was traveling 55 mph on Highway 147.

I could barely see ahead of me, not to mention the cars coming in from the side, or the lines marking which lane I was in. I had maybe about 1 second of visibility in front of me at any one time while I was facing the sun directly. It’s quite a demand to place on my poorly functioning processors so early in the morning. Needless to say, afterwards I was quite run down. I didn’t regain my energy until 11:30 this morning, well after I had gotten back from Durham Tech and stopped to run a few errands.

Still looking on the bright side

Although I was wiped out by my early morning drive, it has not greatly impacted my excitement at being able to take my Basic Wiring class. I will just have to leave earlier in the morning (about half an hour earlier, I’m thinking) so the sun won’t have risen above the horizon yet. Then I will be one of the first cars on campus, and can claim my parking space right beside the front door. Read more…

New textbook for first class 6 days from now

I’m finding it imperative that I do my blogging at my first sign of quality free time. Tonight I finished my orders at 8:15, and I immediately ran upstairs to my computer. I have to go to bed on time tonight because tomorrow morning I’m making my first dry run of my morning trip to Durham Tech’s main campus. It’s January 4, and class starts bright and early at 8 AM on January 10.

My textbook for Basic Wiring I arrived promptly this morning. It’s Electrical Wiring Residential, 17th Edition by Ray Mullin and Phil Simmons. We ordered it yesterday from Construction Book Express and because they were based in South Carolina, I got my book today! I’ve been carrying it around everywhere so I can get a chance to read it when I find bits of free time. I showed my husband the table of contents so he could see how useful the knowledge was that I would be learning this semester.

The textbook is based on the 2011 National Electrical Code (NEC), which is like the bible for electricians – anything you need to know about proper safety and electrical installation, you can reference it in the NEC by article number.  The textbook has all kinds of useful information like how many conductors can fit in a box, calculating voltage drops, understanding electrical symbols, how to wire all the different rooms in a house, and of course the all-important section on electrical safety, which is absolutely important so I can ensure that I’m physically able (like being alive) so I can keep working with electricity. There’s nothing worse than getting to enjoy one’s work one moment and then pzzzzt… Read more…

First blog post of the new year

Hope you had a great holiday!

It’s been a long time since the last of my blog posts because I was getting ready for the winter holidays. I figured I could take a long break since this website is pretty much automatic now, adding new posts from RSS feeds every 30 minutes or so. Thus, there is useful new content even when I’m not working on my website, which is wonderful for my visitors.

When I got back, there was a backlog of HiViz orders for me to fill. I had 5 circuits to assemble, something like 10 cables to assemble, and a whole bunch of kits to put together. Then everything needed to be packaged, and the shipping labels put on. I worked on the orders throughout New Year’s day (Saturday), stopping for lunch and dinner breaks until I finally finished all but two orders at 10 PM that night. Our usual Post Office container box for our orders wasn’t just filled to capacity, it was overflowing. Read more…