Tralfaz

Category: General

General items. For things that don’t fit other categories easily – to prevent proliferation of category ID’s and simplify the taxonomy

  • Reflections of 2017, and looking to 2018

    Reflections of 2017, and looking to 2018

    Ah, December 31, the year is about done, and there are some thoughts clanking around my head. Time to extract them before the temptation to eat myself into a coma wins the battle.

    Number 1 – Work

    It has been a good and busy year at work. I am currently in the certifications group at Cisco, and while it is product management, it is different from my prior roles. In many ways that is refreshing, as it brings new challenges, and opportunities.

    I started the year as a contractor (or C-Worker, short for contingent worker), but in July I was converted into a full time employee, a pretty significant development. That reduced some (ok, a LOT) anxiety in my status. Being a contractor had some benefits (as in, 8 hours are done, turn off and unplug), but unpaid holidays and unsubsidized healthcare really made it touch and go. (more…)

  • The ‘Real’ Slurms MacKenzie

    The ‘Real’ Slurms MacKenzie

    Lately my wife has been terrified by an invader in the garage. After hours, and well after dark, out of the crevasses in the garage, arises a monster slug, that we have nicknamed Slurms MacKenzie, the party worm.

    It is pretty funny, she claims is has been chasing her around the garage. Once Slurms is out, she won’t go into the garage out of fear that it will hunt her down.

    Here is the little guy who is terrorizing Vale Drive in San José

    The real slurms MacKenzie

    Wizzle wazzle wuzzle, let’s PARTY!

  • SoCal Traffic Observations – 2017

    SoCal Traffic Observations – 2017

    Once a year (at least), I make the trek to San Diego to visit my folks. This year, I did it for Thanksgiving (as I did last year). This time, I was traveling alone, as the boss (aka my wife) was staying in the Bay Area to be with her family. Knowing how awful traffic is on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I made the decision to shift the travel days to avoid the crush leaving on Tuesday early, and returning on Saturday.

    That was a wise decision, all around.

    I woke earlier than usual on Tuesday, and left the house at 6:15. Out of San Jose, through Pacheco Pass, and down I–5 all was smooth. I got through the grapevine by 10:00. Then I hit the 210.

    Hoo boy. (more…)

  • Guilty Pleasure – the Resident Evil Franchise

    Guilty Pleasure – the Resident Evil Franchise

    I have a confession to make. I enjoy the Resident Evil movies. An adaptation of a 1990’s vintage video game, and an early vehicle for Milla Jovovich (who plays the key protagonist, “Alice”), the first episode in this series was released in 2002.

    Having never played the game, it was a new concept to me, and for some unexplainable reason, I just enjoy the movie. Having watched the entire series, through the middle movies that were less enjoyable, I still can circle back and watch them over and over.

    Set in an underground fictional city, “Raccoon City” the bio weapons lab is working on viruses that can animate the dead, and augment other living organisms. While the original video game was a first person shooter, in the “Doom” genre, where the creepy/crawlies are out to get you, the adaptation is not directly tied to the video game, and the script is surprisingly good.

    That said, I can’t explain why I like this series of films, but I do. Part of it is Milla Jovovich, whose other efforts are greatly enjoyable (Fifth Element, Ultraviolet, etc) and turns into a consistent character during this series (how does she look the same over 2 decades?)

    Or perhaps it is the action. Lots of violence, zombie apocalypse, and human interest themes. Not sure why, but it hangs together, and the sequels aren’t as sucky as they often are (Matrix Reloaded anyone?)

    The real bummer is that none of the common video streaming services have these movies. That means I must rent or buy them. Or wait until my Tivo captures them from a broadcast. Still, that is a small price to pay for my enjoyment.

    My guilty pleasures…

  • Netflix Original – The Killing

    Netflix Original – The Killing

    I have often bashed the Netflix Originals, as they in general don’t appeal to me. Either I am not the right demographic, or I am picky, or as some readers say, I have no taste. No arguments there.

    But I recently found a show that is pretty solid. The Killing turned up in a search for shows similar to my last binge watching, “Broadchurch”.

    If you want to avoid spoilers, you should probably stop reading now. (more…)

  • The last RO post, I promise

    The last RO post, I promise

    As a couple of previous posts chronicled the demise of my initial reverse osmosis system, and my search and replacement of it.

    As mentioned, the quality of the water is outstanding, the installation was routine, almost mundane, and the only remaining task was to hook up the ice maker in the refrigerator.

    When I bought the system, I splurged for the $15 ice maker kit, that was about 20 feet of 3/8” tubing, a terminal connector, a ’T’ connector (to splice into the output line) and an on/off valve.

    Apart from dumping about a cup of water, and having to drill a hole in the floor of the under sink cabinet, it was completely painless to install. Seriously, it took less than 30 minutes from grabbing the tubing cutter, to pushing the refrigerator back into its nook.

    Tossed the accumulated ice, ran about a gallon of water, and now we are enjoying ultra clean water at both the tap, and in the door dispenser of the refrigerator.

    Bonus? The ice is clearer.

  • The RO Fun Continues

    The RO Fun Continues

    As I have chronicled the original Reverse Osmosis system I installed at my home died. Some research later, I bought a more robust replacement, and a rather pain-free installation, and I have outstanding water.

    HM TDS Meter

    Just how outstanding? Well, the measure of quality is the concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS), and there are a variety of means to measure it. Since I had consumed one of my Flowlok pellets (I had a slight leak), I needed to order more. Alas, the shipping was more than the cost of the “pellets” so I just padded my order, adding a TDS meter.

    Once it arrived, I tested the three sources of water in our house. The tap, the refrigerator dispenser (that has a filter), and the RO system. As I mentioned previously, our water is delivered via Great Oaks Water, and it is predominantly well water, and very hard.

    The tap water measured at 376PPM TDS. That is not out of tolerance, but it is very hard water, and the mineral buildup on our fixtures are a testament to how hard the water is. It also has a noticeable taste that isn’t enjoyable.

    The refrigerator – an LG – has an in-door dispenser of filtered water and ice. There is a cartridge filter and we keep it replaced as per their recommendations. It measured at 303PPM TDS. Better, but still not great. The water out of the refrigerator does taste better than tap, but it does have a noticeable flavor to it.

    Out of the Reverse Osmosis system, it was 33ppm. Right in the ballpark for what is expected. The taste of the water is indistinguishable from the bottled water that you pay big $$$ for. Mission accomplished.

    While the meter was a bit of a splurge (and less than $20) it will be useful when we change the pre-filters every year, and the membrane after 3 years to verify that all is well.

    Today, my task is to hookup the system to the refrigerator.

  • Guitar Group Misbehavior

    Guitar Group Misbehavior

    As a long time player, at one time pretty serious, but somewhat lapsed, I still doodle on the git-box. I also belong to a couple of private groups of guitar players on Facebook. While it is mostly entertaining, there are some really fucked up things.

    Snobbery

    (more…)

  • The Reverse Osmosis Saga Continues

    The Reverse Osmosis Saga Continues

    As I posted about a couple of weeks ago, my under-sink Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtering system went tits-up. It was a Whirlpool WHER25, that had developed stress cracks in the manifold (where the filters attach). It was an injection molded part, and while it wasn’t terribly expensive to replace, doing a little of internet searching yielded that this system pretty much sucked, failed often, and the shipping costs were more than the cost of the manifold.

    I could have just removed the existing unit, and lived with our tap water, but it is Great Oaks, it is pumped out of the ground, and it is horribly hard, and has a strange taste. Not awful, but after using RO water for years, you can tell the difference in your drinking water, your coffee, and your cooking. You don’t have to be a snob to know it. (the first place we had an RO system was when we bought our house in Tucson, AZ. The water there was awful, and it was a necessity). The reality is that living without it would be a non-starter. (more…)

  • Sucky Netflix Originals

    Sucky Netflix Originals

    I posted a while back on how I pretty much have written off Netflix Originals. While I will grant that Narcos was pretty solid, every, and I mean EVERY other one I have tried has sucked.

    I wouldn’t care so much, except that Netflix over-hypes their originals, pushing it to the top of my browsing, and often burying my “List” or “Continue Watching” down 20 or so layers, just to put their preferences on the top. (more…)