Back to the list, still can rig

I gave myself an extended four day weekend by taking Monday and Tuesday off. I wanted it to be of the productive variety so I made a list of things I wanted to get done. I used to rely on lists consistently to get things done at the old house but sort of stopped using them once I moved. The list had 6 items on it, only one item remains crossed off as of this morning.

One of the tasks was cleaning the gutters which routinely fill up with branches and leaves from the nearby oak trees. It only takes me about an hour to clear them but I had bought 100 feet of gutter screen months ago that I had intended to install to cut down on the issue. Once I tried to install a section I shit canned the idea. Trying to get the screening slid far enough under shingles so they sat properly was nearly impossible so I said f it. I can spend an hour three times a year cleaning the gutters, it won’t kill me.

I shot video of two of the list items, replacing a bunch of maintenance items on my Shark robot and a review of my new SnapMaker U1 printer, which I love.

Another list item put my rigging skills to the test. I have always been adept at figuring out ways to come up with solutions/fixes to issues which may not be conventional. I have not had to dust those skills off in a while.

During last weeks yard sale my girlfriend grabbed this elliptical machine ridiculously cheap. Supposedly the only issue was the plastic door that held in the batteries was broken which the prior owner addressed with duct tape, not a huge deal.

Well when I got the machine into the house and tried it the resistance felt stupid high, even with it being set to the lowest level. My girlfriend was ready to walk away from it since it was only $10 but I wanted to see if I could fix it with no prior elliptical machine repair knowledge.

I found the manual online which didnt give any tear down advice but taking it apart was pretty straight forward. At first my “fix” was to disconnect the wheel the pedals were attached to from the heavy flywheel but that gave no resistance at all which was bad, just in another way. As I observed the guts of the machine I saw that it sort of worked like a drum brake. There was a small servo that appeared to control a pad that presses against the flywheel. That pad appeared to be making significant contact.

My theory is the servo that controls that pad was bad however I realized that I could slide it’s connection point manually to retract the pad. Now I just needed to find a way to keep it that way. A small sheet metal screw did the trick, I was able to anchor the slide permanently in the retracted position. Even with the pad retracted the machine gives enough resistance to be challenging so I called it good to go. I even addressed the battery door problem with a small ratchet strap that kept the door in place and the electronics functioning. I mentally patted myself on the back as my girlfriend used the machine yesterday. I can still be McGyver when needed.

During my last trip to Costco I bought a big 6 pound bag of FreshPet dog food. Elsa seems to love it. The healthy chicken recipe doesn’t require me to do any song and dance for her to eat it. She cleans her bowl every time. Is it a renal specific diet, nope. However for now I am just happy she is eating well and as a result feeling well. She has adapted to wearing the diapers and doesn’t seem to care much. It also cuts down dramatically on the amount of laundry I have to do.

I got some unexpected great news on Friday. My vet actually applied for a grant to help for some of Elsa’s bills based on my insurance company denials. They actually got a $1000 grant which will get credited right back to my credit card when they receive it. I was touched that they went ahead and did that for me. It was very kind and appreciated.

The Olympics are done which always makes me a bit sad. I caught a decent amount of the events over the last two weeks. It was nice to see the world community coexisting happily for at least a short while without some old, fat, angry, ignorant man calling somebody a loser while naming whatever monument he can after himself.