I just got done with a little upgrade that I’ve been working on for my photo system, and I’m pleased to say that I actually didn’t break anything this time. I updated the album software (still beta though) and installed / modified a new theme, which I think looks much better than the bland old theme. I also got around to uploading more of the photos I shot while I was back home in Florida. Some of them turned out well, some of them not so well, and some of them I’m already thinking about deleting.

Hop on over to the main menu and waste a little time. Feel free to post comments below the pictures — there’s no need to log in anymore. Enjoy!

My good friend Bill Ruckman has offered to stop by periodically and enlighten us with his vast knowledge of all things digital. I’m sure he’ll have plenty of great info to share because Bill’s intellect comes very close to rivaling my own!

Let’s get to posting Bill!

As I’ve mentioned on my site before, I purchased my first house back in late July of ‘06. There have been some bumps in the road (god damned water heater…), but overall the experience has been positive. Like every homeowner I have grand plans to renovate my house and make several improvements. Today I decided to tackle a project that I’ve been meaning to do ever since I first bought my home — replace the sump pump. The old unit was disgusting, loud, and looked as though it had been installed by a meth addict. When the pump kicked on (every 5 minutes because it leaked), it made a horrible racket that could be heard throughout my house, and when it shut off it sounded like an old man coughing up cholera.

I set out early this afternoon on a quest to find a quality replacement for the pump. I say “quality replacement” and not “exact replacement”, because I know that if I want to find the exact same piece of crap make / model I could just have one shipped from Nigeria. Although it’s a little farther from my house than Home Depot, I decided to shop at Menards because it’s much cleaner and seems to employ roughly 90% of the cute girls in this area (a little eye candy never hurts when shopping). After briefly considering my options, I settled on a 1/2 HP Campbell Hausfeld model. It has a heavy duty cast iron housing, and more than enough power to meet my needs. I also purchased various adapters, a check valve, and plenty of PVC.

I have to admit, the installation took a little longer than I originally thought it would. Mind you, I took my time because I wanted the job done neatly and correctly. I completely gutted the old system, cleaned out the pit (which had many odd items buried beneath three inches of dirt), cut and fitted new PVC discharge piping, and finally installed the pump itself. All in all, install time was right around four hours.

It was actually a fun project, and I look forward to tackling the next item on my agenda: installing new light fixtures throughout the house!

Check out pictures of the shiny new and gaggy old equipment!