Little sensor, big help

Problem: My TV sits above my fireplace. In addition to the TV, I have four other components to my entertainment system and some assorted speakers. I don't like to see wires, and I'm too cheap to pay an expert to wire the necessary cords through my walls. (I know, I know. ... If only all our problems were this trivial.)

Solution: Stack the components BEHIND the TV.

New problem: The components' remote controls signals aren't powerful enough to go *through* the TV, which means my lazy butt would have to get up and press the buttons on my now-hidden components. (And you thought my previous problem was trivial, huh?)

New solution: I found this transmitter and receiver at Best Buy. Point any and all remote controls at the transmitter and let RF waves do their magic. If it lived up to its packaging claims, the transmitter/receiver combination also could operate my remote controls through walls, floors, multiple rooms, and even politicians' thick skulls.

The packaging claims are greatly exaggerated. True, the devices often work when both the receiver and transmitter are in the same room -- but not always. Luckily, a Best Buy reviewer named mdjiron (who coincidentally also lives in Raleigh) came up with an engineering fix that other reviewers say works great. 

I have yet to try the hack, but if I don't electrocute myself, I'll report back with results. For now, I am just happy to keep my butt planted on my VERY comfortable sofa, channel surfing like a king.

Aw...sheets

I have a queen bed, fairly plush, but by no means ridiculously oversized. I needed a set of sheets for said bed.

I went to Wal-Mart to buy their best sheets, figuring the best sheets from a discount store average out pretty well. I found a color and style I liked, and made sure the queen set hadn't been opened.

You probably know what's coming next... When I got home, I attempted to make the bed with my new sheets. There was no amount of stretching that would have gotten that fitted sheet onto my mattress.

[more after the break -- click below]

Resurrecting a fish tank, part 1

My 29-gallon fish tank has been dormant for four months. It went uncleaned for a couple months before that. My lack of aquatic attention can be blamed on the amount of time needed to search for and move to a new place.

I'm not proud of it, but the caked-on scum in my fish tank developed into a rainbow of colors. There was green scum. There was purple scum. There was black scum. And I kid you not, there was scum that changed colors like the corner of a $20-dollar bill.

Clearly, there are only a few industrial products I could use to remove that scum, none of which would be safe for any future fish residents, which require a narrow range of pH levels and water chemicals to survive.

Or I could take the fish tank to a (manual) car wash and blast it with the high-pressure rinse cycle. Guess which option I chose?

It actually was fun to clean the fish tank at the car wash (obvious note: remove any live fish from the the tank before attempting this), though I got many strange looks from other car wash patrons.

Using the soap setting on the water gun (not the separate soap wand) helped loosen the entrenched scum. And the high-pressure rinse cycle did, in fact, clean everything out, though it sprayed soap bubbles everywhere.

After drying the fish tank off. I brought it home and filled it with some new gravel and decorations. Now I just need fish.

[freshly cleaned tank, with its light off and its light on]

 

 

I can see you

OK, so the title is a bit creepy. But that's kind of the point: My front door now has a peephole.

The architects of my townhouse for some inexplicable reason did not include any side glass or windows near the front door. So I had no idea whether the person ringing my doorbell is a neighborhood girl scout selling cookies or a Uzi-toting madman hell-bent on world destruction. (Yes, I watch a lot of REALLY bad movies.)

I had the idea to install a peephole/viewfinder after I evaluated my new home's security. About a month after I had the idea, a local company sent me an advertisement, telling me they'd install a peephole for what seemed like a lot of money.

I was right, it WAS a lot of money. My local hardware store sold me a peephole for about $10-12 dollars. (Amazon sells them, too.) I already had the drill and half-inch drill bit.

Don't want to drill a hole yourself? Find a Triangle-based security company with this Google search.

Some tips:
Splurge on the peephole: I got the peephole with the largest viewing angle available. I almost can see more through the peephole than I can with the door open. It cost about $2 more than a limited-scope peephole.
Make sure you know your door: If your door used to be a bank vault, you're probably going to need some heavy-duty equipment, or at least some extra drill bits.
Install the peephole at a comfortable height: I'm kind of a tall dude, so the peephole went in a few inches below eye level so others don't have to stand on their toes. If you have children around, consider installing a second, lower peephole.

More good tips and peephole alternatives can be found here. It's alarmist, but useful.

And now, I'm safe(r) from Uzi-toting madmen.