now that is more like it
Jan. 14th, 2019 11:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaWe have been talking about selling my car, since it is having issues again (1. not long after having the break work done last summer the "check break pads light started shining again. 2. sometimes it refuses to go into reverse, which means that it is a good idea to only part places where one can go forward, just in case the next time one wants to go anywhere is one of those times (this one is infrequent enough I don't always remember to park were I can go forward, and only once so far have I needed someone to tow me backwards out of the spot so I could go forward again, and, of course, the next time I needed reverse, it worked). 3. Since Norrskensfesten the battery has been having issues in draining when left unattended for a while, so we have been unhooking the battery in between use to keep it from being drained.) However, before we advertise it seems like a good thing to get it cleaned off of the thick layer of ice that accumulated while I was gone, when it snowed and then rained on top of it (since David has decided that this winter, instead of letting the car sit in the carport, he wants the tractor in there, since the car is fully enclosed, and the tractor is not, which means that if the tractor gets snowed on it requires lots of effort to get the snow off the seat so that one can use it to clear the driveway of snow. I understand his logic, but I really prefer to have the car under the carport), plus the additional snow that has fallen since then, all of which was well enough attached to the car roof that it doesn't fall off when driving, not that I have been doing any driving with this car since I got home from Seattle, since dealing with both the snow and ice, plus the battery, has made it seem like too much effort.
But knowing that the only way to sell it is to get it usable again, last night I got the battery re-attached, and the windows clear of snow and ice, so that I could drive to Folk Dance, since David wasn't up for going, and his car was at Caroline's apartment, and the car worked fine. Therefore, when I got up this morning, and saw that it was snowing I decided to take the car to work, as an excuse to sweep off the new snow. While I was shovelling a path to the car I noticed the big yellow tractor that often plows the small private road to the neighbour's house was busy doing just that. So I walked over and asked if he would be so kind as to also get my driveway this morning, just one quick pass in one end and out the other. He said that he would have a look, and, much to my surprise and delight, he not only did that bit, but while he was in the top part, where we park, he also took the time to push the pile of snow that David had built up with our tiny tractor at the edge of the parking area back several meters. There is no way our tractor could have done that. As a result of his kindness I didn't have to do that much shovelling this morning (only about 45 minutes while the car warmed up).
I spent the morning in the office. I have been having a bit of a block work-wise. The folk at UTAS/CODES have released a beta version of a program for LA-ICP-MS data processing That they call LADR, and, back before I went to Seattle, the plan was to do a side-by-side test of it and iolite, the program we have been using. But, of course, that didn't happen before the year ended. Since coming back I have tried opening LADR a few times, but each time ran into problems, closed it, and found something else to do. Today I resolved that I really do need to learn it. First I tried messing with the same project I had created before Seattle, but soon hit the same issues. Then it occurred to me that what I needed was to start over, with a new project. So I went to my notes and found a suitable one, for which I have actually done all of the data processing in iolite, and have results with which I will be able to compare the LADR results, once I have them. By that point it was 11:30, and I realised that I should take the car home and shovel some snow, since it had been snowing all morning, and tomorrow was likely to snow as well.
So I decided that I should work from home the rest of the day, shut down my computer, unhooked it from the docking station, put on my coat, and boots, grabbed my back pack, and went out the door. I drove home, got the car lined up to back into its parking spot next to the carport (where it at least is sheltered from wind blown snow from that side (which happens to be the prevailing wind direction), got out of the car, shovelled the parking spot, backed the car into place, turned it off, opened the hood, unhooked the battery, grabbed the shovel and started working on the path to the house. Then I realised that, as I was unhooking the battery, I noticed that the ice at the edge of the roof, closest to the window, had clearly melted a bit on the underside, and was now sitting a but above the roof instead of touching it. So I walked back to the car, hit that ice with my hands, and enjoyed watching it break off and slide down the window.
At that point I realised that if I turned the car back on, and let it run for a while as I shovelled snow, I would get both the benefit of additional charge into the battery, and more melting of the ice on the roof. So I did. I first knocked loose more bits of ice on the front bit of roof, and then started clearing a path to the shed that has the tarps in it, thinking that once the car is ice-free I should cover it with a tarp to prevent a new build up of ice and snow. Then, after about 40 minutes after I first started shovelling the parking spot so I could put the ca in it, I realised that while I had un-docked the computer, I hadn't actually packed it, nor had I brought it home. So I hopped back into the car and drove the 4 km back to uni, got my computer, and drove home again. This time, when I went to back into the parking spot again, the car didn't want to go into reverse. So I put it into some other gears, and tried again, and it worked, and I started backing up. But when I got half way into the spot the tires bogged a bit in a softer patch of snow, and it didn't want to back further. So I drove forward again, got out, took the shovel to that area, and went to back into the spot again. But it wouldn't go into reverse. Putting it into other gears didn't help, either.
Since it has sometimes helped to drive a little bit forward and then try again, I did that. Nope. And again. Nope. I don't recall how many times I tried, but eventually the car was on the far side of the driveway, in the area where guests normally park, and I was running out of room to go "a little bit" forward. So I gave up, left the car running, so that it would stay warm in there, got a step ladder from the house (I am too short to reach the middle bit of the car roof without help, or perhaps the car is too tall), and in fairly short order, knocked loose the last of the ice from the roof. I gave it one more try, but it still wouldn't go into reverse, so I turned it off, unhooked the battery again, and went and got the tarp from the shed and covered the car, tying it down with a heavy twine passed under the car body in front of the tires. Then I finished up the rest of the shovelling the path to the house and sheds (another hour after I had gotten back from uni the second time).
Then I went inside, fell into a book (accompanied by a bowl of popcorn and green salad) for 35 minutes, and updated my logs a bit, and, just as I was about ready to resume work, got hit by a nap attack, and slept for 30 minutes. Then I finally sat down to resume my interrupted work day.
This time I decided to be much more methodical in my approach to learning LADR, and I took detailed work flow notes about which buttons I pressed for which step, and what decisions I was making as I made them, and, much to my delight, made much better progress, hitting far fewer issues. I even figured out what was wrong with the instruction to "hold control and then double click" that the LADR "getting started" pdf had instructed me to do for one step (it turns out that it is actually a "hold shift and double click" that does the trick). I managed to get further along in the work flow than I had on my previous attempts, but eventually realised that I was tired and perhaps I should put it down for the evening. Fully five hours after I had sat down for that session of work! (Bringing me to eight hours total for the day, which means that tomorrow I can focus on Durham stuff with no guilt, as I am doing good for LTU hours so far this week.) With luck all of these notes, which look clear and easy to understand today, will still make sense when I pick this back up the day after tomorrow.
Edited to add: the next day I tried again, and this time the car went into reverse with no problems, so I backed it into its normal parking spot, unhooked the battery again, covered it with a tarp, and left it be till next we need it, or we find a potential buyer who want to see it.
But knowing that the only way to sell it is to get it usable again, last night I got the battery re-attached, and the windows clear of snow and ice, so that I could drive to Folk Dance, since David wasn't up for going, and his car was at Caroline's apartment, and the car worked fine. Therefore, when I got up this morning, and saw that it was snowing I decided to take the car to work, as an excuse to sweep off the new snow. While I was shovelling a path to the car I noticed the big yellow tractor that often plows the small private road to the neighbour's house was busy doing just that. So I walked over and asked if he would be so kind as to also get my driveway this morning, just one quick pass in one end and out the other. He said that he would have a look, and, much to my surprise and delight, he not only did that bit, but while he was in the top part, where we park, he also took the time to push the pile of snow that David had built up with our tiny tractor at the edge of the parking area back several meters. There is no way our tractor could have done that. As a result of his kindness I didn't have to do that much shovelling this morning (only about 45 minutes while the car warmed up).
I spent the morning in the office. I have been having a bit of a block work-wise. The folk at UTAS/CODES have released a beta version of a program for LA-ICP-MS data processing That they call LADR, and, back before I went to Seattle, the plan was to do a side-by-side test of it and iolite, the program we have been using. But, of course, that didn't happen before the year ended. Since coming back I have tried opening LADR a few times, but each time ran into problems, closed it, and found something else to do. Today I resolved that I really do need to learn it. First I tried messing with the same project I had created before Seattle, but soon hit the same issues. Then it occurred to me that what I needed was to start over, with a new project. So I went to my notes and found a suitable one, for which I have actually done all of the data processing in iolite, and have results with which I will be able to compare the LADR results, once I have them. By that point it was 11:30, and I realised that I should take the car home and shovel some snow, since it had been snowing all morning, and tomorrow was likely to snow as well.
So I decided that I should work from home the rest of the day, shut down my computer, unhooked it from the docking station, put on my coat, and boots, grabbed my back pack, and went out the door. I drove home, got the car lined up to back into its parking spot next to the carport (where it at least is sheltered from wind blown snow from that side (which happens to be the prevailing wind direction), got out of the car, shovelled the parking spot, backed the car into place, turned it off, opened the hood, unhooked the battery, grabbed the shovel and started working on the path to the house. Then I realised that, as I was unhooking the battery, I noticed that the ice at the edge of the roof, closest to the window, had clearly melted a bit on the underside, and was now sitting a but above the roof instead of touching it. So I walked back to the car, hit that ice with my hands, and enjoyed watching it break off and slide down the window.
At that point I realised that if I turned the car back on, and let it run for a while as I shovelled snow, I would get both the benefit of additional charge into the battery, and more melting of the ice on the roof. So I did. I first knocked loose more bits of ice on the front bit of roof, and then started clearing a path to the shed that has the tarps in it, thinking that once the car is ice-free I should cover it with a tarp to prevent a new build up of ice and snow. Then, after about 40 minutes after I first started shovelling the parking spot so I could put the ca in it, I realised that while I had un-docked the computer, I hadn't actually packed it, nor had I brought it home. So I hopped back into the car and drove the 4 km back to uni, got my computer, and drove home again. This time, when I went to back into the parking spot again, the car didn't want to go into reverse. So I put it into some other gears, and tried again, and it worked, and I started backing up. But when I got half way into the spot the tires bogged a bit in a softer patch of snow, and it didn't want to back further. So I drove forward again, got out, took the shovel to that area, and went to back into the spot again. But it wouldn't go into reverse. Putting it into other gears didn't help, either.
Since it has sometimes helped to drive a little bit forward and then try again, I did that. Nope. And again. Nope. I don't recall how many times I tried, but eventually the car was on the far side of the driveway, in the area where guests normally park, and I was running out of room to go "a little bit" forward. So I gave up, left the car running, so that it would stay warm in there, got a step ladder from the house (I am too short to reach the middle bit of the car roof without help, or perhaps the car is too tall), and in fairly short order, knocked loose the last of the ice from the roof. I gave it one more try, but it still wouldn't go into reverse, so I turned it off, unhooked the battery again, and went and got the tarp from the shed and covered the car, tying it down with a heavy twine passed under the car body in front of the tires. Then I finished up the rest of the shovelling the path to the house and sheds (another hour after I had gotten back from uni the second time).
Then I went inside, fell into a book (accompanied by a bowl of popcorn and green salad) for 35 minutes, and updated my logs a bit, and, just as I was about ready to resume work, got hit by a nap attack, and slept for 30 minutes. Then I finally sat down to resume my interrupted work day.
This time I decided to be much more methodical in my approach to learning LADR, and I took detailed work flow notes about which buttons I pressed for which step, and what decisions I was making as I made them, and, much to my delight, made much better progress, hitting far fewer issues. I even figured out what was wrong with the instruction to "hold control and then double click" that the LADR "getting started" pdf had instructed me to do for one step (it turns out that it is actually a "hold shift and double click" that does the trick). I managed to get further along in the work flow than I had on my previous attempts, but eventually realised that I was tired and perhaps I should put it down for the evening. Fully five hours after I had sat down for that session of work! (Bringing me to eight hours total for the day, which means that tomorrow I can focus on Durham stuff with no guilt, as I am doing good for LTU hours so far this week.) With luck all of these notes, which look clear and easy to understand today, will still make sense when I pick this back up the day after tomorrow.
Edited to add: the next day I tried again, and this time the car went into reverse with no problems, so I backed it into its normal parking spot, unhooked the battery again, covered it with a tarp, and left it be till next we need it, or we find a potential buyer who want to see it.