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Blog

A collection of thoughts, life updates, projects, and images in reverse chronological order.

Drawer From Scrap

One of the nice things about my new appartment is that it came furnished, so there was no need to bring in things like a couch. The downside, however, is that I'm at the whim of the pre-supplied furniture in terms of storage. I can't get rid of the prefurnished items for obvious reasons, and the items have already been selected to fill the space. This makes it difficult to add new storage furniture. At my desk, I'm using one of the side tables as a stand for my computer and 4U wood rack I built for it. As part of the structure of the side tables, there is a set of cross beams forming an H about five inches down from the base of the top. Currently, I have a carboard box that's exactly the right height resting in there, and another larger one at the bottom. This works, but it's not very convenient to open the box each time. The box also doesn't take full advantage of the footprint of the table, so there isn't as much fit into the space as there could be. A system of deviders would be nice at some point as well, and if I'm going to spend a significant amount of time creating an organization system, then it better be higher quality than on layer of couregated cardboard. So, I set off to build a drawer.

I'm cheap. That's how I have what I have, and usually I'm better for it. There's a story behind a lot of the objects I have that isn't "I got it from <insert big box store>." I also like the feeling of making things, even if they aren't that pretty, and I have a long shift in the wood shop today, so might as well do something with it.

Drawer made from scrap plywood, MDF, and melamine laminated board. Front is made from black finish melamine. The handle is centered towards the top made from bent sheet metal.
Drawer made from scrap materials.

Luckily, there were some good pieces in the scrap pile today, and my manager and another co-worker had a couple things I could use as well. The melamine board, MDF and masonite were found in the scrap pile, and the plywood for the side and piece of sheet metal for the handle came from my manager and co-worker respectively. I got a list of measurements for the box the night before, which made it pretty easy to build out the drawer. My manager suggested pocket screws for assembly, since I wanted to be able to pull it apart again if needed. I cut all the pieces to size, drilled the pockets, and screwed it together.

Bent sheet metal handle with sandblasted finish attached to face of drawer. Bent sheet metal handle with sandblasted finish attached to face of drawer. Inside shot.
Handle up close.

My last bit to figure out was the handle. I originally envisioned a slot cut into the face, but that was before I knew the front was melamine board. It can chip easily if the bits aren't sharp, and while the shop is in good condition, I didn't really want to mess around too much. I settled on the idea of a handle screwed onto the face. The rest of the box was looking kind of modern industrial with the exposed plywood with screw pockets faced with black melamine, so I thought a minimal sheet metal handle would look nice and be easy to fab and attach. While bumbling about seeing if there were any scrap sheet metal pieces, my co-worker offered up a pice that was pretty much the exact size I was looking for and at sixteen guage thikness. It also already had rounded corners, which was even better. I cleaned it up, layed out six holes to put the screws through, marked my bend points, and brought it to the metal shop to drill and bend. It was pretty straghtforward, but I did make a mistake in the order I made the bends. Always remember to think about what the part will look like after a bend. In my case, it needed to be bent in a certain order so that the part wouldn't interfere with the machine on the next bend. I did it backwards, so it undid my first bend and required me to re-bend that bend. Aside from that hiccup, it went well and was time for sandblasting. I really like the surface finish on the sandblasted part. Unfortunately, it will rust as it sits, so I'll need to coat it with something. I tried some stuff we had at the shop, but it just globbed on, probably due to age, so I'll buy a new can of clear later this week.

For now, it's complete. I'll use it like this for a week or so and add organizational features as I discover what would be beneficial. Also, I wouldn't recommend MDF if you can avoid it. I knew it was a weak material, but I figured it would hold up to the light duty it'll see as my drawer. I was not quite right, as it started to split when the screws were inserted. This was after pre-drilling to the recomended size. Some also stripped out quite quickly. I'll probably replace this with a sheet of something stronger, but for now, it'll be alright.

Created: 2024-09-09

New Bag

There's something about messenger bags that I enjoy. They don't fit well with my two-wheeled lifestyle (I need a rack), so since school started I've stopped using them. That said, I've wanted to get back into using them on a daily basis recently and have started to look out for one.

While at a Salvation Army thrift store looking for various home-goods, I found one. It looked pretty nice, I didn't really know anything about it, and it was $14. The interior is orange, like my backpack, which makes finding things inside easier. Seeing as I've been wanting one, and this was nice as well as cheap, I bought it. Later that night I tried to look it up. CRHMPLER? CRKMPLER? CRNMPLER? What the heck is "the considerable embarrassment"?? A tag line? Mission statement? Trying to look this up is a considerable embarrassment. Luckily search engines know how to handle stuff like this. Crumpler. Messenger bag company est. 1995. Trendy designs. $400 bags??? Wow. How much was this thing? Numbers run through my head. $150? $200? It's always a funny game. Review from 2008 says MSRP $95. Okay, not bad. Wow, this is from the era I collect computer hardware. How well did it hold its value? Ebay. Going rate of around $60 shipped. A far cry from their current median of around $250 for a bag, but a 77% discount is nothing to scoff at.

Overview of bag and strap. Bag open showing laptop compartment and zipper pockets. Loaded, closed bag standing.
The Considerable Embarrassment messenger bag by Crumpler.

So far, it's a nice bag. Early reviews complaining about a lack of exterior pockets to hold an MP3 player were amusing to read, but I don't have an issue with it. What I do have an issue with is the lack of a top handle. While it looks sleek without one, more than half of the times I grab the bag is to move it a couple feet. I don't want to gather up the shoulder strap each time, so I end up just pinching the canvas cover and grabbing it that way. Not very elegant. It seems quite durable, however. Sturdy materials and substantial stitching. It seems well-used but not well-worn, so that's a good sign. Long term review in the future.

Created: 2024-08-30

244

I saw a nice, blue 244 today. Thought I'd share.

Blue Volvo 240 DL outside Dearborn Music.
Volvo 240 DL sedan outside Dearborn Music.

Created: 2024-08-21

3-2-1... Backup

Ever since I got into computers semi-seriously, the wisdom of keeping multiple backups and the 3-2-1 backup strategy has been in my mind. Easy, right? Just have 3 copies of data on 2 forms of media with at least 1 off-site. This could be as simple as 1. The copy on your machine, 2. A copy on a flash drive, and 3. A copy on your cloud provider (ex. Google Drive). I'm not one to be simple, though my intentions weren't to take over 5 years to deploy a working system that I was happy with. A single drive isn't something I'm comfortable with. I've seen my mom's single drive backup solution give out one day, leaving us with a paper weight and a loss of family photos. So at least one part of the chain needed to be a RAID 5 if not RAID 6.

I was happy enough with that. A single server with a few TB of storage utilizing a RAID 5. My other requirement, though, was to have a web inteface where I could easily access and share files to my friends and family. A self-hosted Google Drive. If all you do is live in *NIX land and would rather use rsync and never leave the terminal, that's fine. But that's not my use-case. Looking at you Ángel.

For a while I used Nextcloud running on TrueNAS. Why I thought that was a good idea I don't know. My poor Athlon X4 910e was very unhappy with the overhead. I suffered along like this for a while. Residential 10Mbps upload speeds were not helping any of the usability either, meaning that for anything other than regular text files took forever to access outside of my home network.

Fast forward to today, I now have a semi-competent solution that is much faster and simpler. Enter File Browser and rsync-prelude with rsync. Filebrowser is a web inteface to access your files. It supports upload/download and sharing among a few other things. It's written in Go and has very little overhead. All you do is run it and point it at a directory. For that RAID 5 I mentioned, I moved to FreeBSD with ZFS and set up a RAIDz1 across my three 2TB drives which allows for one drive failure before data loss. None of this solves the upload speed, though. For that, I decided to set up an identical server with a mirror of the data using a spare HP mini computer and an external 2TB drive. This will sit next to my computer at school, and I can use it as though it's the one back home. Each night, the two will sync taking as long as they like and I'll have two copies of my data. This does mean that there will be a full day in which I will not have three copies of the data, but I'm willing to live with that. Syncing the two servers became a bit of an issue, however. Rsync by default has no way of knowing if you've moved files around. See this superuser StackExchange post linking to a hack using hard links. This wasn't working for me, and after spending much too long trying to get another software, Syncthing, to work, I gave up as it was unable to handle the large number and size of the files well given my hardware. Luckily, I found rsync-prelude. Written in Python, it reorders files on the destination server ahead of time so that rsync will not re-transfer them just because they changed folders. Then you run rsync like normal. Easy(er). This will be run as a cronjob every day to sync up the backup server at home.

I'm very happy with this setup. The rsync process has yet to be vetted, but even if something goes awry, the single backup solution paired with File Browser is so much better than before. I'm able to play video out of the 10Mbps network where on Nextcloud it would stutter and hang (presumably because of system overhead). PDFs load and preview properly, where as on Nextcloud it just would error out. A great step up.

For anyone currious, here are the system specs:

-- Home Server --
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 910e
RAM: 10GB DDR3
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200RPM (boot)
HDD: 3x WD Purple 2TB 5400RPM (RAIDz1 storage)
OS: FreeBSD 14.1 (ZFS)

-- School Server --
CPU: Intel i5-4570T
RAM: 8GB DDR3
SSD: Samsung 850 Pro 256GB (boot)
HDD: WD MyPassport 2TB 5400RPM (storage)
OS: FreeBSD 14.1 (ZFS)

I'm about to move into a new appartment, and I'm crossing my fingers for higher upload speeds given that it's a fiber connection and I'm in the city. This will make accessing my server much more useable when I'm away from the appartment. If you have any questions about setting up a system yourself, feel free to send an email to alex@scerba.org.

Created: 2024-08-16

treatland.tv

While locating parts for one of our rather esoteric (in the USA) motorcycles, I came across treatland.tv, a moped parts store.

I love the content of this website. Their business has so much character, and it's just a parts store. When you enter the main shop page. Just click on "lost?" and see what I mean. Even the descriptions for the parts are filled with bits of humor. You don't even have to like mopeds. Reading the text combined with the knowledge that this is a real business and not some teenager's pet project makes it all the more absurd. Give it a read. It might brighten your day.

Created: 2024-06-02

May the 4th be with You

Happy Star Wars Day! I haven't really been keeping up with all the new shows recently due to school and not liking most of the new content's storytelling and delivery. I'll probably watch something tonight though just because.

Side rant, what's up with new big budget movies looking uncanny. I recently saw a trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, I couldn't take it seriously. This franchise is built on grit and practical effects, and whatever their doing, at least for the trailers, looks like CGI, even if it isn't. Also, Chris Hemsworth? Anya Tayor-Joy? I think I've just seen too much of them recently, so I'm not that thrilled with the casting. It could have been a cool opportunity for some lesser known actors.

Anyways, time to figure out what to watch.

Created: 2024-05-04

My Git Server is Live

After a long while, I finally have my git server in a good spot. There's only a couple public repos on there currently (well one if we're being fair), but that will change as time goes on.

Created: 2024-03-13

Yukon Towing Footage

My friend, Ben, and I took a trip out to New Mexico at the start of last summer to tow back my late grandpa's Jeep CJ-7. We documented various parts of the journey there and back, and Ben is just now sifting through all of the footage (I don't blame him, it's a lot).

This is footage driving through Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado. We've got the Jeep in tow behind a GMT900 platform Yukon.

Timestamps

Created: 2024-03-12

Spring Break - Day 9

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

This one'll be pretty brief. Sunday was the drive back to Michigan. We got up, finished packing and ran some last minute errands like returning the ignition switch for the CJ-7, re-tourquing the wheel lugs, and visiting with my grandparents one last time.

We finally hit the road a little after noon. It was a pleseant enough ride with the expected semi-frequent crazy Chicagoan driver. We had one stop in Kalamazoo to get gas at Costco and continued on from there, and after a while Rex and I split up so I could go see my girlfriend at her grandparents' house for the night. I had dinner, which was great as it always is there, and headed to bed.

It's been a great break. Maybe not a "break" but fun nonetheless.

Check out the others is this series using the included navagation links at the bottom of each post. It should help not having to back-scroll as much.

Created: 2024-03-10

Initial post

Spring Break - Day 8

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

This morning was spent cleaning up the livingroom and choosing which LEGO sets to bring back to school. It should be fun having more LEGO around in the dorm. My roommates have been aquiring various LEGO sets over the last couple months, so it'll be a good addition to the collection. This is what we settled on:

LEGO CIS tank droid.
Corporate Alliance tank droid.
LEGO General Grievous's fighter.
Soulless One.
LEGO Boba Fett's Slave 1.
Boba's Slave 1.

Once that was done, we headed to my dad's again to change the oil in the truck. Before leaving, I couldn't help but capture our cars accidentally parked in a staredown.

Mazda Miata and Chevrolet Silverado in a staredown in my driveway.
Staredown.

The last change was 2 years and 7,000 miles ago, so it was time to do so. It hasn't seen much use over that time, so that's why it's been so long. We had our mechanic dog sign off on the job when we were finished.

Coco, my chocolate lab, standing in the driveway.
Coco the supervisor.

After, we had dinner with my dad, hung out with Ángel, and headed back for the night to do some more cleaning up. Tomorrow we have some last minute prep to do before heading back to Detroit for school. It's been a fun break.

Created: 2024-03-09

Next post

Spring Break - Day 7

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Today was more LEGO in the morning. One of my friends headed home to Michigan and my other friend and I worked on some more Star Wars sets. Progress was steady, and by lunch we had about 7 sets made including what we worked on the nigh before.

Later that day, I got fitted for a suit for the first time. I'm very excited. Since I'm tall and pretty skinny, stuff never fits from the store. Everything is either too baggy or too short in the arms and legs. Having a suit I can have for events and networking is something that's more important now that we attend networking events, but it was expensive, so I definitely understand why that's not something you up and do normally.

After, we had dinner with my mom and headed back for more LEGO building.

By the end of the night, we got 8 sets pretty much fully completed.

Completed sets lined up on the floor. Completed sets lined up on the floor, second shot.
Finished sets.

I'm super happy with it. There's some missing and broken pieces on some, which is unfortunate, but everything's a lot more organized now, so I can get right back into building whenever and not have to re-sort stuff.

Tomorrow'll be a busy day, as it's the last full day we have here. There's an oil change to do, grandparents to visit, homework, and random housekeeping tasks. We'll see how it goes.

Created: 2024-03-08

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Spring Break - Day 6

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Today was the "final" day on the truck. We headed out and got the nuts installed for the struts and the rear wheels installed. I also tried heating up the bent plastic fender liner to keep it from catching on the tread, but it just ended up catching again later. I just need to deal with that and change the oil, and it'll be set for the trip back.

Jeep CJ-7, Volvo 244, Mazda MX-5, and Chevrolet Silverado lined up in the driveway.
Ready to depart.

In the meantime, we packed up and headed to Milwaukee to drop off Ángel and meet up with another friend to grab unch at Crave Cafe and Kopps Frozen Custard (Glendale location), both great places to eat if you're ever in Milwaukee. Each Kopps location has a different achitecture theme going on with the building which is fun to experience.

Large sculpture of a sppon and cherry inside of Kopps.
Sculpture inside Kopps.
Ángel photographing the cow statues at Kopps.
Cows out back.

Side note: Saw a cool old Corvair while walking around.

Chevrolet Corvair in teal.
Corvair spotting.

Afterwards, we stopped by my other friend's appartment and saw his cat, Jack, for a bit before heading back home for the day.

Jack the cat stalking a lazer pointer.
Jack.

When we got back home we broke out the LEGO. I have been wanting to reassemble all of my LEGO sets, but just haven't had the motivation since it's a big task, but being at school and reminicing with friends about which sets we have rekindled my desire to get everything rebuilt. Plus, having two other people makes things go a lot faster, especially when they're just as excited and motivated to see the completed sets.

LEGO and action figures spread out across the livingroom floor.
LEGO everywhere.

By about 3 AM, we made some good progress and finished about 5 sets. Some were missing one or two pieces, and there were some instances of the infamous fragility of brown and maroon LEGO bricks showing itself in the form of fractured pieces. You can contact LEGO to get broken pieces replaced, so I'll be doing that once we're done for the break.

It was a very fun time though. Three friends with some music, a box of LEGOs, and motivation to see as many completed sets as possible by the end of the night is a great experience. I'd highly recommend. Might be a fun yearly event, rotating which house everyone goes to.

Created: 2024-03-08

Next post

Spring Break - Day 5

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Today, the goal was to swap the front struts on my dad's truck. The front end needed to be lifted to fit the new, used wheels my dad got for relatively cheap, so we set off in the morning to get started.

By noon, we almost had the struts out, but were slowed by rusted bolts. We headed to my grandparents' for lunch and to see them since I was back for the week. After a nice meal, we walked around their field for a bit...

Field in Wisconsin.
Field.

...and saw some really old LEGO boxes in the basement.

Old LEGO box in a bag.
Old LEGO box.

Lunch was over, and it was time to get to work. It took the rest of the afternoon and evening to get the struts installed and the wheels test fit.

Ben looking at engine bay while standing on tire in front of the truck.
Looking in the engine bay.
Me in the wheel well fitting the strut.
Fitting the new strut.
Side of the truck with new wheels fitted up front and original wheels in back.
Finished(ish).

The last thing needed are the nuts that hold the struts to the tower and to swap the rear wheels. The lift spacer makes using the old nuts impossibe, so we'll run to the store in the morning to get new ones. But we were able to test it, and it does mostly clear now, so I should be able to take it back to Detroit. I'm pretty happy about that because being car-less in Detroit is pretty frustrating. Maybe I can also bring the RX50 back if the parts come in before Sunday...

With that mostly out of the way, we had dinner and headed back to my mom's for the night. I tried messing with some computer stuff, but it didn't go too well, and I was tired, so I started writting this post. The computer stuff can wait for tomorrow and Friday.

Our next adventure includes bringing Ángel back to Milwaukee with the truck once it's fixed. We'll see what else happens the rest of the day. There's plenty to do.

Created: 2024-03-06

Next post

Spring Break - Day 4

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Today I finally got a haircut.

Me with longer hair, before my haircut.
Before.
Me sitting in the Jeep after the haircut.
After.

On the way out, I noticed a red Willys parked next to me.

Newer Jeep Willys parked next to my CJ-7 at the barber shop.
Jeep sighting.

We had a big adventure planned, pick up Ángel from Milwaukee, and I hoped to take the CJ-7. I've been trying to figure out the ignition, and narrowed it down to the ignition switch, so I picked it up from the parts store and installed it. In typical fashion, it wasn't the problem and didn't solve anything... tomorrow I'll actually break out the continuity tester that I should have done almost a year ago and track down the culprit, but right now, I didn't have the time. We took off as it was with a very janky bypass wire for the ignition coil and my friend in his Miata as a backup car.

We kept off the interstate, so the drive took forty minutes longer than normal, but we did make it, albiet with a singed connector.

Jeep CJ-7 and Mazda MX-5 in front of the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Made it to Milwaukee.

Overall, it went really well. If I fix the ignition wire, I'd be pretty comfortable going long distances.

We stopped for lunch at Café Hollander north of downtown and started the long drive back. After a few close encounters with traffic, we made it out of the city limits and cruised back home.

Tired, we hung out for bit before starting up the movie "Bullitt."

Movie cover for the 1968 action/crime movie 'Bullitt'.
Bullitt.

Tomorrow, we're going to try and swap some suspension components on my dad's truck, so I can actually have something to drive back to Detroit. We'll see how it goes.

Created: 2024-03-05

Next post

Spring Break - Day 3

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Finally, it's time to head back home. I'm really looking forward to it, and I'll have Ben and Rex joining for the majority of the trip. I tried to pack light this time, bringing only a few bags and a jacket.

Packed bags for roadtrip. Two backpacks, a drawstring bag, and a coat.
Packed bags.

We got everything packed and left around 10:00am.

Ben and Rex in front of their cars, a 1989 Volvo 250 Sedan and 1997 Mazda MX-5.
Ben and Rex.

Stoping for gas an and errand run, we finally hit the road for real around 11:00am.

Volvo from view of the Miata.
Detroit I-96.
Bridge along I-96.
Bridge, Michigan I-96.

We made it to Wisconsin by 5:00pm. Just in time for the huge storm passing through. There were some tornado warnings for towns a bit north of where we were headed, and we got a decent chunck of that storm, with hail, wind, and heavy rain.

Rain in Lake Geneva, WI.
Rain.

Luckily the rain died down a bit, and we made it to dinner with my dad.

Sitting at the dinner table.
Waiting for dinner.

We got back to my mom's around 7:30, and I pulled out the CJ-7. I really just needed to drive something and was eager to pull it out of the garage. We cruised around town for a bit and stopped by the bay before heading back home for the night.

1985 Jeep CJ-7 by Williams Bay waterfront.
My CJ-7 (first start since the beginning of the school year).

I finally was able to set up my subwoofer I got from another friend a while back, so we spend the rest of the night testing it out.

Stereo setup with sub and TV.
The AV setup.

Overall, it's been another great day. Lots of plans for tomorrow, including a haircut and picking up Ángel from Milwaukee.

Created: 2024-03-04

Next post

Spring Break - Day 2

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Autorama. Bigger than the Detroit Auto Show (somehow). This is definitely the event of the semester. Other than maybe industry day/student exhibition. It was a good show, with lots of cars I know little about and bikes that I know a little about. My two friends that have actual knowledge on the subject were our guide.

We weren't just there to see the show, however. Tickets were paid for by the school so that we could man the school booth and sketch for the public. It's always a great time. You get to draw whatever you want and meet new people.

Me and other students sketching cars at the CCS booth at Autorama 2024.
Sketching at Autorama.

While on our shift, we met Andrew Berry, a senior at LTU who is also majoring in transportation design. He was friendly, very talented, and we got a bit of a first-hand look into what it's like at another school. I've very glad we got to meet.

Meeting an LTU senior, Andrew Berry.
Andrew Berry from LTU.

Of course, the rest of the day (before and after) was spent walking around the show. I don't really know many details about the cars, but here's a truncated selection of what I found most interesting.

.
Rat rod truck.
.
Dutch Door Stop 101 (Model A chassis, Dodge body).
.
1974 Vanguard CitiCar.
.
1972 Honda CB750 drag bike.
.
1966 Volkswagen Beetle.
.
Flying Finch (1946 Ford truck).
.
1988 Chevrolet S10.
.
GMC 1500.
.
1986 Shelby GLHS.
.
1981 Honda CBX (Assembled from parts).
.
1987 Harley-Davidson Sportster.
.
1932 Ford pickup.

I'm a bit embarrassed of my lack of knowledge. I'll get my friends to correct me, and I'll update the info at a later date.

My friends and I hit the road for Wisconsin tomorrow. Hoping all goes well. It should.

Created: 2024-03-03

Next post

Spring Break - Day 1

It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.

Today is the first day, though technically not. There were still classes, but not for me. It is still winter, so the air is cold, but we gathered a group of people and went to the weekly cars and coffee event. It was expectedly devoid of much life. There were the 6 or 7 die-hard attendies, which was still nice to see. We left an hour later when there were only a couple left.

My dad arrived around noon, and we had a nice lunch after loading up the car with the stuff I no longer needed at school and the remaining car parts.

Autorama is tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it.

Created: 2024-03-02

Next post

Midterms

We had our midterm presentation in studio earlier this week. It went well with lots of great feedback from Joe Dentale (Ford Creative Design) and Matt Tandrup (Livewire Creative Director). I think this is one of the best classes so far. Lots to still improve on, but I have a direction now.

Midterm design project board.
Midterm board. Full-size image.

I'm looking forward to fleshing out the details and getting a good start on the model over break.

Created: 2024-02-29

Couple of Pictures

There was a big storm a night ago, and I got a picture of the lightning lighting up the clouds.

Skyline photo lightning in Detroit. Featuring the Fisher building.
Storm featuring the Fisher building.

My friend built a Y-wing from some clone battle packs. I reworked the gunner area and build a stand for it.

Clone Wars era LEGO Y-Wing model build out of 501st battle packs. Captain Rex minifigure in pilot seat.
501st Y-Wing.

Created: 2024-02-29

50°F, Overcast, and Windy

I was out on a bike ride with some friends yesterday and couldn't help but notice the weather. Just warm enough to have a light sweatshirt on with a bit of wind and a cloudy sky. There is something special to me about this kind of weather. I was asked if it was because it reminded me of being outside as a child, but that alone doesn't quite capture it. It's more the transitional feeling of going from something social and fun to finally splitting up for the day and heading home. Right between the two. You know the end is near and you can feel those around you anxious to get ready to leave, but you just want to stay out a bit longer. Oddly perfect for our the events of the afternoon, though I wouldn't apply my description to the dynamic of our group. But that is what it reminds me of. A sense of longing. For the people, for the event, for a sense of normal in a busy or lonely schedule. I'm likely projecting a bit, specifically from the past, but I suppose that's the point. If I were more skilled, I might write a poem to describe the feeling, but I'm no poet. Maybe when I have a bit more free-time. Or, more likely, retired.

Group photo of my friends and our bicycles on the steps in front of the GM RenCen by the Detroit River.
My friends and I outside the GM RenCen by the Detroit River.

Side note: I've discovered how to type symbols and special characters on Mac, so I can type Ángel's name correctly now without having to copy and paste characters. Exciting stuff.

Created: 2024-02-10

First Post

New year, new site. Looking forward to working on it.

Created: 2024-01-09

Archive

Works from my last revision of scerba.org

What A School Year So Far

It's been a crazy school year.

The Good

Let's start with the good, even if we're going out of order.

I moved in early, bought some new old tech, participated in the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit, and got to attend a couple Cars and Coffee events at Pasteiner's Auto Zone Hobbies with my car and moped.

I got to sit on an old Harley-Davidson WLA from WWII that one of the participants brought to Cars and Coffee. That was an incredible experience even if I didn't ride it. No spring-back on the throttle or spark advance for these old bikes, which I didn't realize. It's absolutely on the short list for motorcycles I own post-graduation now.

Used MacBook, two ThinkPad X230 Tablets, two iPod nanos and an iPod Mini on a table.
Recycling center haul.
Me on my engine swapped Honda Ruckus riding down Woodward Ave.
Dream cruise.
My 300E next to an SEL.
Cars and Coffee.

I kind of glossed over the Ruckus being ridden. For those that know me, this is an accomplishment. For years, it has sat in my garage with the engine pulled out. Right before school, I finally cobbled it together for one of the local moped events, rode it for the rides, and was able to bring it to school. Here is a recording my friend took during the ride.

Skipping ahead, this year's Detroit Concours d'Elegance was at the DIA again across from my school, and I was prepared. I was able to drive a 1970 American Motors AMX with a 4-speed manual and a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS convertible with the two-speed “Powerglide” transmission. Both were great cars.

Me in a 1970 AMX.
1970 AMX

The hosts of The Carmudgeon Show, a podcast that I listen to religiously, were there doing a live episode, and I was able to meet them and get a picture with Jason Cammisa, one of the hosts. My friends threw a surprise birthday party for me earlier in the year, and they made me a cutout of him, so we brought it along to show. We even made it on the live recording.

Instagram post by Jason Cammisa of Hagerty. Image shows Jason, a life-size cardboard cutout of him, Alex Scerba, and Rex Jo standing next to eachother with Jason making a funny face. Post text:
Jason's Instagram post.

Skipping ahead more, on the weekend of mid-terms, a large group of my friends and I went out for dinner and did less than legal things on the fantastic roads in Hell, MI. It was a very fun night.

And last weekend, my girlfriend and I made costumes for Halloween and dressed as Snow Miser and Heat Miser from “The Year Without a Santa Claus.” I hand-sewed the shirt which was fun, and she made the hats out of cardboard.

The Bad

With that in mind, the powers at be decided, “you're having way too much fun kid.”

On the first day of class, my moped broke down on the side of the road and got stolen while I had to attend our sponsor's kick-off event that I was on the way to. Looking back, I could have tried a couple more desperate things to get it to start, but I was already running late to the event and that doesn't usually have you in a sound state of mind. So after all the work of getting it to a finally running state, it found its way to the void. I reported it to the police and everything, but I don't expect to get it back in one piece, or ever get it back period. Maybe if some idiot tries to register it or crashes it into a police car I'll get lucky. It probably got pulled apart though, so whatever.

Front shot of my modified Honda Ruckus.
Ruckus on the ride back in Wisconsin.

Then, last Tuesday, I decided to drive to the other campus. School work has been a lot, there was a personal situation going on that I won't be sharing, and I've been getting not as much sleep as I should. I figured I would go to class a bit early to get caught up with my work since I was a bit behind. I left the garage, headed down the road, and as I crossed over the bridge I looked up to realise the light I was about to go through was red. That's not something that happens for me. I don't go through red lights. But this time I did because I noticed only right as I was about to cross the stop line. Unfortunately, it was rush hour and less than a second after realizing the light was red, an SUV hit me on the front passenger side. The only good things here were that we were both uninjured and my ancient airbag didn't deploy. Both cars were totaled. The other driver's airbags did deploy, and we both had major structural damage.

My modified Mercedes-Benz 300E with siginificant front passenger side impact damage.
About 10 minutes after the accident.

I didn't know anyone local, especially someone who would keep a car carcass for several months, and the police told me that if I couldn't get it off the road in an hour, they would have to tow it to the lot, where I would have to pay for the tow and overnight fees for as long as it sat there. I couldn't afford that, so I had to take it to a junkyard. My title is in Wisconsin, so that made it a bit tougher. I was also not in the best state of mind when choosing a junkyard to take it to, and relied on the towtruck driver who also didn't really know what was in the area. Long story short, I accidentally took it to junkyard Hell. It's a place where the employees want to die, and cars are crushed whether they should be or not. I got a whopping $250 dollars for the 300E, even after informing them about all the new, still undamaged parts in the rear sub frame, and the wheels. I was pretty pissed about that, so I grabbed what I could carry in my friend's WRX that he drove to the yard with me in. I couldn't get the wheels. Later I realised they never gave me a receipt and I left a CD in the player. I forgot to go the next day, but the day after when I went back, they had already crushed the car and sent it out to be ground up. Employees admitted that many vaulable, clean cars get crushed there all the time, even if they could be resold. They only kept the wheels and tires, and I had to buy back the wheels if I wanted them. I couldn't let them stay there, so I paid the $85 they wanted with the money I already got from them to begin with. It took them 10 minutes to find the paperwork for the car because they were so disorganized. Don't go to American Auto Recycle if you're in Detroit. It's funny they talk about environmental friendliness, because they aren't that. Go anywhere else that at least resells parts. The last thing we should be doing is throwing away valuable parts that could keep other cars on the road.

Here's a photo collection of all the pitures I had of my 300E under my ownership. If has some that are missing, feel free to email them to me and I'll add them to the collection. I don't know how long I can go without a W124. They're great cars to work on, tinker with, and learn from.

The Rest

It's definitely been a mixed year so far, and it's only two months in. Luckily, I have great friends that are extremely supportive and understanding. We've had lots of great memories so far, and everyone that's said anything has been extremely serious about helping in whatever way they can to get me to the store for groceries, or even borrow cars. I'm taking a mandatory couple weeks off before I accept an offer to drive, but knowing that I have such great friends has been one of the few things keeping me going.

Let's hope for a normal, moderately eventful rest of the school year. Who knows, maybe the CJ-7 and XS650 will make a Detroit appearance in the spring.

Created: 2023-11-01

Personal PC Update

Playing with custom computers is a fun hobby. The common comparison is adult LEGO (as if adults don't play with LEGO…). To me, it's just another thing to be built, and I love a good thing to build. For a while now, I've had a Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Tempered Glass Edition case, and while it does look decent, it is horribly space inefficient and hard to build in. Especially when you have a custom loop, which I do, accessing components on the motherboard is filled with frustration. It can be done, but you wonder why you're still in the hobby by the end. In any case, I acquired some rack-mount gear and a couple short wall-mount cabinets from a friend who recently moved out of town.

Rack mount computers have always been an interest of mine, but buying a case was always a bit out of the price range or unjustified because I already had a working case, if not a perfect one. With a rack, you can mount other stuff to the rails, too. And there are small 4U portable racks which make a nice all-in-one PC/Router/Access Point setup that you can take with you easier. A big thing for me recently is having a spot for everything, and more importantly, everything is grouped with items that are commonly used with eachother, and they're stored in something that is relatively portable. So having a 4U rack that has my PC and router for when I'm at school is something that appeals to be greatly. Also, rack mount PC's are much simpler to work on. The case is already on its side, and the components are all laid out in front of you with minimal overlap (I kinda messed this part up in my build, but hey, it's miles ahead of what I had before). This is honestly the biggest improvement over my Evolv ITX. Being able to swap out the RAM and CPU easily Is something I've wanted to be able to do for a while (it has come up multiple times recently). So, when I was able to get free rack equipment, I gladly accepted.

The interesting part is that the rack gear is old power supplies and scientific equipment, so it's not meant to house a computer. I've done some basic metal work before, so I figured it should be no problem to cut a few holes here and there. And so the adventure began.

GPU, PSU, Motherboard, and radiator position mockup in the gutted power supply case.
Initial mockup of the main components.

With the position of the components figured out, the first thing I wanted to get made and installed was the motherboard tray. With the tray installed, the exact position of the IO shield on the back plate could be figured out. Inside the old power supply was a bent piece of sheet aluminum that was used to hold some components together. Folded out, I figured it should have enough area for a motherboard.

Marked cut lines on flattened aluminum.
Cut layout for motherboard tray.
Cut tray down to size.
Cuts made.
Motherboard tray installed in case.
Motherboard tray installed.

With the tray cut and installed, the locations of the power supply and rear I/O could be determined and cut into the back plate.

Marking the layout of holes to cut on the rear panel.
Laying out where the holes are
Cut out location for and installed rear I/O shield.
Cut out I/O area.
Cut out PSU area and installed PSU.
Rear I/O shield fabricated.
Final completion of back plate with room for two-slot PCIe, I/O shield, and the PSU.
PCIe slot cut and plate installed in case.

The back plate was one of the more difficult parts of the build. Making sure cuts were accurate was very important in keeping things lined up. The last thing to do was to cut a hole up front for the air intake. By this point, however, I was more focused on packing for school, so I made the most jagged, terrible cut ever. But that's fine because it's still better than the almost non-existent airflow in the Evolv ITX. I also installed a dust filter up front, because I learned the hard way how much dust is in my dorm room last year, as well as a mesh plate to protect the two fans I plan to install outside the case eventually. The fans require a trip to the hardware store, and I didn't have time. Three fans will be plenty for now.

Inside of final build with custom loop liquid cooling.
Interior.
Front of completed build.
Front.
Rear of completed build.
Rear.
Top of case featuring original 'High Voltage' sticker from when it used to be a power supply.
Top.

And with that, it was done. For the most part. When I got to school I decided that I should just install the second radiator. All I did was friction fit it in, but it's quite solid. The tubing is Tygon A-60-G (the stuff EK is trying to emulate with their ZMT line) and a metal anti-kink spring was used, because the 10/13mm tubing kinked very easily. The spring solved those issues, though, and I think it looks cooler with it.

Final interior shot with second radiator installed.
Final shot of inside with second radiator installed and system powered on.

Here are the specs:

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
32GB DDR4 3200MHz
Nvidia Titan Xp (2017)
Corsair RM850x
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 512GB
WD Blue 2TB 5400RPM
EK Fluid Gaming custom loop kit
5x Corsair Light Loop 120mm

Some notes about the build:

Don't buy aluminum if you want a custom loop and aren't a machinist. There's not a good ecosystem of parts, and EK has pretty much abandoned their aluminum line. Also, I wouldn't buy Light Loops again. I just wanted them for a static color, but the RGB controller started freaking out after about a year of ownership, so I just removed it. Definitely get some “dumb” LED fans that don't need something like that, or just buy non-RGB fans. Also, I'm having instability with the 5950X. Lots of people seem to have a similar issue. The current fix is to make it run at base clock all the time, which is stupid. I may go back to my Ryzen 5 3600. Not sure if I can get AMD to RMA it since it was an eBay purchase from like a year ago, but I may try it. Basically, I wouldn't bother with the 5950X. Stick to the 3000 series.

Created: 2023-08-29

MKE Air & Water Show 2023

While figuring out how to pass the time, a friend linked to the /r/milwaukee subreddit. Out of boredom, I opened up the link. To my surprise (I'm not that in the loop), people were posting about an air show going on. It was 1:30 PM when I found the event page and saw that the Blue Angels were on for 3:00 PM. Since I needed to be in Milwaukee by 5:00 PM anyways and I haven't seen an air show, I packed up the Sportster and hit the road. As I came off I-794 by the art museum, I was surprised to see not that much traffic at first. That fallacy was soon broken. I found a spot a few minutes after the show start time, though, and right as I got off the bike to find a spot to sit the Blue Angels flew just overhead in formation. It was loud… but awesome. Sure, I've been on an airliner, heard loud engines, and ride a relatively loud motorcycle, but the sound and feeling of several jet fighters flying some eighty feet above is something I haven't experienced. Here are a few of the videos I captured:

imgur album

Overall it was a great experience. My only regret is having to hurry to get there, otherwise I would have parked somewhere else and walked down. The streets were packed… everywhere near the lake and the surrounding area. So if you want to go in the future, definitely show up early and walk/bike/skate/scooter down. You'll be much happier regardless of the weather. Sitting in locked traffic for an hour trying to get away from the lake was a bit insane. Having some plans that let you hang around for a while is even better.

Anyways, the EAA Fly-in is this week in Oshkosh, and I absolutely plan on attending.

Created: 2023-07-26

Jeep CJ-7 Turn Signal Repair

A while back, I noticed that the passenger side turn signal on my 1985 Jeep CJ7 was out. The right turn signal indicator would stay solid when the headlights were turned on. I pulled the bulb assembly and found this:

Disassembled turn signal lamp assembly: housing, wire harness, contact that broke off wire, degraded rubber grommet, bulb, and lens cover.
Lamp disassembled.

The wire responsible for turning the bulb “high” was broken from what I assume is fatigue. The rubber meant to support the wire and contact pin was severely degraded and falling apart, exposing the bare wire where it met the pin. This also means the wire could freely flex at the joint, and going over bumbs or just general road vibration could have eventually wore it down. I didn't see much in the way of corrosion around the wire, so that's why I assume it was stress related.

Anyways, the bucket was severely rusted, and the gasket was a poor excuse for one, so I cleaned up the bucket with some sandpaper and gave it a light coat of lubricant to hopefully hinder the rust and cut a new gasket from two layers of craft foam. This is definitely a short-term solution, but with school fast approaching and the fact that this will be garaged for the next 9 months I wasn't too concerned. Next spring is Jeep repair time, this summer is “cobble it together until then” time. I also cleaned up the driver side bucket the same way and cut a new seal just to try and keep it from rusting any more.

Sanded and re-foamed turn signal bucket
Bucket cleaned.

Next, I got to repairing the harness. The pin was a crimp-on, and there was no easy way I was going to be able to uncrimp it for reuse. So I did the next best thing, soldering. Anyone that takes pride in soldering would probably stare agasp at what I did, but again, I'll fix it correctly in the spring. I just trimmed back a bit of sheathing on the wire and soldered it to the bare copper on the side of the pin. Pretty or preferable? No. Does it work? Yes.

Soldered and repaired turn signal harness
Connector wires repaired.

Finally, everything was reinserted into the bucket. I reused the dryrotted rubber piece that was still in the bucket because it needs that to keep the pins in place and put tension on the bulb to retain it. After it was all reassembled, I put some Shoe Goo (it's what I had lying around) on the exposed end to try and prevent the same thing from happening again quickly.

Front of final lamp assembly Rear of final lamp assembly
Final Assembly.

Pretty happy with how it turned out given that I didn't spend anything or go anywhere other than my garage to get it done. Here's a video of it being tested:

Signal testing.

Now to repair the muffler I blew… but that's for another day.

Created: 2023-07-20

P.S. I did end up getting a new muffler on. That'll be a future post.

Extended Archive

See my original blog at old.scerba.org

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