Author: Joe

Categories
Adventure Projects

Fixed a Randomly Running Toilet

Recently (overnight of course when I needed to get sleep) I noticed the toilet was occasionally running on its own every few hours. So I suspected there must have been some sort of slow leak that was causing it to want to refill.

I had a similar issue a few years back with a faulty fill valve and was able to fix that, so I figured it was likely something different this time. Did a little research and it sounded like an old flapper was the possibly the culprit.

Initially I tried removing some sediment around the flapper and that seemed to resolve the issue for a few days. Then of course as I was getting ready for work one morning I noticed it occurring again. So, this time I figured lets see how hard it is to just replace the flapper.

A few tutorials later, I was very confident I could do the replacement. On my way home from work I stopped at the hardware store to get a new flapper. Of course I didn’t think of taking a photo earlier in the day, but it is a pretty standard toilet so I got a nice, fancy universal one and thought it looked about right to me.

I got home and drained the toilet tank after I shut off the water to it by flushing it. Then used an old sponge to soak up the remaining water in the tank to make it easier for me to work in there. The water was really gross and rusted looking, so I’ll look into cleaning that up a big more another day.

Removing and snapping the new flapper into place was as simple as can be. I was really excited to attach the new flapper chain to the handle rod to give a flush test when I realized that the handle rod was bent funny.

Upon close inspection I snapped the metal rod in half. Apparently it’s been in pretty bad shape for a while, and I suppose rusted at some point? Not sure, but it snapped more like paper than metal. So alas, now I needed and new handle and rod too.

Back to the hardware store I went to get a new handle and rod. They had quite the selection, but I found one that I felt looked like it would fit and seemed rather sturdy.

Installing the handle and rod was easy. Instructions said you can bend it if the tank requires, but luckily mine did not. Which is good as at this time I felt I might break anything I could touch,

I connected the chain, turned the water back on gave a test flush. It was beautiful, it was like a brand new toilet to me.

I was able to then adjust the flapper to use less water turning a dial on the flapper itself and testing the strength of the adjusted flush. It really felt great to figure something new out!

The only thing remaining for me is that I noticed that when I flush the top of the handle rod in the tank seems to be just barely touching the top of the tank. I don’t think it’s anything too serious, but the instructions did say I could trim the row with a hacksaw if necessary to fit the tank. Then plan is to give that a shot and then call it complete.

All in all I was impressed that I was able to solve the issue at around $25 (it’s cheaper if you go with lower end parts) and probably a half hour of labor if you don’t count running to the hardware store twice. Good times!

Categories
Video Games

Elden Ring

Elden Ring cover artAfter 166 hours and probably thousands of “You Died” screens, I am finally the Elden Lord!

I picked up the game back in May with gift card I received for my birthday, and have been giving it a go for the past 6 months. Though very difficult, it was very, very good!

I went with a strength/tank build starting off as a vagabond. I dd want to try out some spells and such, but once I got going I felt like I had to build up my vigor and strength just to get by early on.

The world to explore was huge. Just when I thought I’d found everything in an area, I’d continually stumble upon a new region or detail. Not sure if this game would have been beatable before the internet, as I certainly had to turn to it for some tips and tutorials many times.

I think Starscourge Radahn. was my favorite boss. Getting slaughtered repeatedly by a huge boss on a tiny little horse was pretty great. Then finding out he used his gravity magic to make it possible to ride his childhood horse was an amazing touch. Almost brilliant.

I don’t think I even was able to defeat a crucible knight, so I pretty much avoided them when I could. Parrying was not my strength at all.

The final Radagon/Elden Beast gave me quite the fit. Must’ve had around 100 attempts before I got him. I think I originally attempted to take him on at level 147 or so, and ultimately would up getting him when I was level 171. So I really have to power up quite a bit to finally get him.

Such an amazing game, and really got my moneys worth out of this one.

Categories
Adventure

Escaped the Hellevator

I’m a big fan of Escape Rooms and any puzzle really, and had a blast successfully completing the Hellevator at Escape at the Shore.

Stacey and I took on the challenge. The room was very small and shook and simulated like an old elevator. It was really impressive. Don’t want to give away any secrets, so I’ll keep it vague.

The beginning was great. Everything in the room was setup perfectly for experience. There was a pay phone that could be used, all sorts of combinations, locks, and drawers to open. Pretty nice.

A creative twist is that we did have to interact/combat zombies at some point, but again will keep it vague on the exact details.

I did have a piece of the room break or malfunction on me, but I shared it with the game master through the camera in the room and they promptly remedied the situation. Ha, always my luck!

The end got pretty intense as we saw the time ticking down. We knew we had to hustle with only seconds remaining, but I ran to save every last precious second and we wound up beating the room with a scant 13 seconds to spare. We really cut it close!

Lots of fun, good teamwork and highly recommended!

Categories
Design Development

3D Printed a Broken Bike Part

A little plastic part that worked to support the magnet above an exercise bike’s flywheel had broken, making the bike only work on it’s hardest level. Not fun to pedal against such a harsh setting.

So we decided to see if we could 3D print a replacement piece, since the supply chain is making getting access to parts pretty tough.

This was my first attempt at 3D printing. So I starting with tinkercad, and watched a few of their tutorials. The web interface seemed fairly easy to pick up, just had to set aside some time to try to recreate the broken part in CAD with the assistance of a metric ruler to make sure I was being accurate.

Turned out I really enjoyed drawing the part. Took me back to my mechanical drawing classes back in Shop class in grade school. Always enjoyed mechanical drawings.

All I had to do now was export my drawing to a .stl file format and find a printer to create it. I checked to see what options were nearby and some online options too. The nearby Ocean City Library had a 3D printer and only charged $1 an hour. Couldn’t pass that deal up.

So I emailed them my .stl file and had it all ready to pick up the very next day. They were really awesome about it. Asked me what color I preferred it be printed as, very helpful.

Got home with the new part, swapped it only the bike and like magic all seems to be working well again. Will be interesting to see how it holds up in use, but thus far seems to be quite durable.

It was awesome, I’m still excited it worked! Eager to try printing more 3D things.

Categories
Adventure

Capybaras

Capybaras eating bamboo at the Cape May County Zoo
Capybaras eating bamboo at the Cape May County Zoo

For my birthday I was treated to a Capybara encounter at the Cape May County Zoo! Capybaras have been my favorites at my local zoo for as long as I can remember, even for the few years when they were absent. I got to go into the enclosure, get fairly up close and feed my friends some bamboo.

We got there a little extra early as it was forecast to rain most of the day, but not until around our start time. Luckily the super friendly zoo staff showed up early as well, also hoping to beat out the showers (which we ultimately did).

The staff was great, very friendly and began sharing all sorts of facts about the capybaras. They let us into the enclosure and reminded us that we could get close, but don’t make too sudden of a motion as it will likely scare them off.

There were 3 adults and 2 tiny babies. If we made the slightest move the babies would retreat, most of the time I think they just ran away because someone else had run. It was pretty awesome and hilarious at the same time.

So I just sat there fairly still and offered up some bamboo for the capybaras to feast on. Budette was the hungriest with the other 3 joining early on too. Mikey stayed back, apparently he’s been dealing with some stomach issue as of late.

I eventually got him to come over and eat up as well. Within minutes his stomach issues were on full display as here ripped an extremely loud fart accompanies with a decent poop. While it was pretty gross, we couldn’t stop laughing. He just kept munching along like nothing that epic has just taken place.

This was a pretty amazing experience and one I’m very glad I got to take!

Categories
Adventure

New England Road Trip

mountain view from Flume Gorge in New Hampshire

Took a nice road trip up to the New England area for the first time. We took Stacey’s fancy new Prius up there. The hybrid made amazing and most importantly efficient work the whole trip. I came away very much impressed with the vehicle.

On the first day we visited Boston. Took a short train ride in early in the morning, and got some advice (both directional and political) from a construction worker. He was really nice and made sure we were on the right train, as well as let us know not to vote too progressive in our upcoming election.

Once we got into Boston we waled the Freedom Trail. It’s a 16 stop trail throughout the city that involved a lot of walking, which is great as I do enjoy moving around. It was incredibly warm out for the time of year, I’d say it was perfect walking/touring weather.

We walked the entire tour, stopping for food and treats along the way. Also were fortunate enough to see a street performer put on a nice show atop a unicorn unicycle. He really gave it his all and did a great job working the audience.

Perhaps the most interesting thing for me was the size of the squirrels in Boston. They all were massive, much larger than the squirrels in my yard. They were huge and fearless of humans.

The next day we drove over to the Blue Hill Reservation park. This was pretty scenic with the hills, foliage starting to kick in, etc. We hiked the Skyline Loop, which was justly ranked as a challenging hike.

The hike was intense! Right off the bat you’re going straight up a very stony hill. It was so steep. Then the trickier part to me is descending a stony hill. It’s just a bit more slippery going down for me than going up. After completing that, I pretty thought much we were done. We went up a steep hill and down, right? Nope, this had 5 big hills to climb.

It was very exhausting, but a really great hike. I’d highly advise for those seeking a challenging hike.

After that hike we stopped at Wegmans to pick up a quick bite. They were conveniently right next to the hotel, so we would make many refueling stops there.

After the refuel, we headed out to Salem to check out all the Halloween stuff. When we arrived we realized that most of the world had a similar plan, it was packed beyond comprehension. Rows and rows of people. All parking was full, and the only available was a lot asking for $60. We aborted the mission and headed back to home base, hanging out at the Natick Mall (largest in New England).

Got the check out their Lego store, Peloton store, tried on a winter coat (kinda looking to replace this season), and just enjoyed walking on level ground for a bit after the extensive hike/climb earlier. The did have a cool place of indoor activity called Level 99, but I didn’t partake. I was still a bit tired and honestly it looked a bit packed and I’m still being a bit cautious with crowds with the Coivd-19 and all.

The last day we drove up to New Hampshire and check our the Flume Gorge. This was awesome and I’d highly recommend it to anyone to check it out. It was so scenic and massive, not something that I’m used to seeing on the east coast (or anywhere really).

Everything was so scenic and fall like, it was pretty great. Another great hike outdoors, this time the temperature was a bit closer to what I’d expect this time of near up north. Again, a very much recommended place to go.

This as a pretty awesome and active trip. A great time.