Letter to Rep Struzzi

Below is an email that I sent to Representative Struzzi regarding the Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement law that will be implemented.



Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement

I can't imagine that this program will be upheld in the court system. There is no way to prove who was driving, so why should the owner of the car be penalized? Other states have done similar programs like this and the courts do not uphold the tickets.

Let's make no mistake about this program, it is not about saving lives, it is about making money.

Part of the reason why people speed through work zones is because they have traffic blocked off for months at a time when there is absolutely no work being done on the road.

A good example of this was 119 through Indiana (286 to 422) last summer. It was coned off for about 4 months and they only worked on it for maybe 2 weeks.

Make a law that says once they start a road project they need to work on it 24 hours a day until it is completed. 

Puzzle Solved

b.dazzle, inc Scramble Squares: Planets

A few weeks ago we got a a Planets Scramble Squares puzzle by b.dazzle, inc. The goal is to arrange the 9 squares into a 12" x 12" puzzle. There is some combination of four possible planets on each card: Earth, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. They are arranged differently on each card. The object is to position each card to match the cards next to it to solve the puzzle.

After about 15 to 20 minutes of trying different combinations, I solved the puzzle. Below is a picture of the completed puzzle.

Egg Nog

As the 2018 holiday season winds down, so does the opportunity to purchase egg nog. Once again this year after sampling several varieties, the reigning champion of egg nog is:

Southern Comfort Traditional Egg Nog

Managing Your Photos

Everyone takes a lot of photos these days and usually with multiple devices (phones, tablets, cameras etc). It can be challenging to manage without a good plan to follow consistently. Below is the process I have used for many years and it works well for me. I make it a priority to work on photos from the previous month at the beginning of each new month. So on January 1st, I stored December's photos.

The first step is to get all of your photos onto your computer for long term storage and remove them from your device.

If your devices have a removable storage card then you can easily copy the photos from the storage card to your computer using a usb sd card adapter. The photos are usually located in the DCIM folder on android devices.

If your devices do not have a removable storage card then you will need to upload your photos to a cloud storage service such as google drive or dropbox. You will want to make sure you do this over a wi-fi connection so you are not using your wireless data plan allotment.

The easiest and best location to store your photos is in the pictures folder (Windows 10). Inside that folder I recommend making a folder for each year and within each year make a folder for each month.

Copy all of the photos you took in the previous month to the correct folder. So if you are storing December 2018 photos then it would be stored in the path of \Pictures\2018\December.

Once you have all of your photos for the month stored onto your computer, I recommend making a backup copy to a USB flash drive. These can be purchased for under $25. Then at the end of the year, I recommend taking the entire year of photos and burning them onto CD or DVD for longer term storage.

I have found this process takes less than 30 minutes per month and helps keep your photos organized and safe. I hope this helps someone, let me know in the comments below if you have other tips or tricks.

Always Thinking Here at Doe Valley

Important Information Worksheet

Taking care of someone is a challenging task to do. Follow the link below to find a worksheet to complete regarding important information about the person you are tasked with caring for. Hopefully, this worksheet will help you when needed.

Important Information Worksheet

Ripped Off

In August of 2015, I contracted with a local business (K & K Merchant, owned by Nicholas R. King) to sell some of my items in their store. The agreement stipulated that I pay a flat fee per month and they would handle the sales transaction.

The arrangement worked well for about 6 months or so. Then in April when I stopped by to restock and settle up the account for the month, the store was closed.

On April 7th, I called the number listed on the door and there was no answer, so I sent a text message to find out when they are going to open. Here is the response I received:

"No we are not going to be we are going to be closing store this month I opened a construction company and I have so much work I don't have time for store I will let you no when we are takin stuff out and get it for you thanks for your business and think you sold 25 or 30."

I heard nothing from him, so on April 27th, I sent him another text message asking him when he will be at the store so I can get my items. Here is his response:

"We will be there next week"

On May 5th, I still had not heard anything from him so I sent another text message. This time no response.

From April 7th to May 5th I also called numerous times, but no answer or returned phone call.

Finally, on May 10th, I sent him an email and gave him four options to make things right.
1. Set a day and time to meet and settle up.
2. Have the owner of the building let me in to get my stuff.
3. Mail me my stuff.
4. Buy me out.

As of today, May 23rd, I have yet to receive a response.

In conclusion, I would not recommend doing business with Nicholas R. King. He has not made good on the written agreement we had.

Hopefully, I can report back with good news regarding the situation and revise my recommendation regarding Nicholas R. King.

Squirrel Baffle

After several years of trying to keep the squirrels from eating (stealing) the bird seed from our bird feeders, I finally think I have the solution!

I purchased a 2' section of 7" galvanized steel round duct pipe and an end cap for about $10 from Lowes. I drilled a hole in the end cap to fit over the bird feeder pole and attached the duct pipe to the cap with a couple of sheet metal screws. I attached a hose clamp onto the bird feeder pole to hold the baffle in place.

The idea originated from an article I read in the December 2003 issue of Garden Gate magazine.
Below is a drawing from the magazine.

So far it seems to have prevented the Squirrels from getting to the feed.

Cigar Chair Photo

Last night, I came across and article on the Contemporist website describing a new chair for cigar aficionados. The chair looks rather unique. It is a contemporary design with leather cushions. There are drawers built into the arm rests to hold items a cigar smoker might need: a drink, cutter, ashtray, etc. The chair is manufactured by a German company.

Upon looking at one of the pictures, I noticed something interesting. Take a look and see if you see anything interesting as well.

Notice anything? Take another look at the cigar. How about now?

Yep, that's right. The wrong end of the cigar was lit!

I am guessing the photographer is not a cigar smoker.

FRAUD!

On March 30, I received a text message from my credit card company asking me to verify a purchase at an online organic grocery store. The amount was for a dollar and some change. I thought it was a fraudulent text message, but it had the last four digits of my credit card number listed correctly. I checked my email and sure enough there was a similar message there.

I decided to call my credit card company and ask them what was going on. After a few initial questions, they asked me to verify the last 5 or 6 transactions. They were all correct except for the online organic grocery store.

They determined my credit card was fraudulently used and canceled it and reissued me a new card.

I began to wonder how did someone get my credit card information. Most of the experts agree that credit card fraud has been a physical theft rather than an electronic theft. I knew this was probably not the case for me. I shred all documents and mostly use the credit card at large reputable companies both physically and online.

After thinking about it for a while, I figured I would never determine how the criminals got my credit card information. And I probably never will know for sure. However, yesterday, I received an email from an online retailer (discountrubberstamps.com). Here is a portion of the email:



************************************
April 14, 2016 – Notice of Data Breach / Data Security Incident

Dear Wesley:

Thank you for shopping at DiscountRubberStamps.com.  You are a valued customer and we appreciate your business.  We respect the privacy of your information, which is why, as a precautionary measure, we are writing to let you know about a data security incident that recently took place on our system.

What Happened:
We learned that our computer system was accessed without our authorization during the time period of January 22, 2014 and February 8, 2016.

What Information Was Involved:
It is possible that customer credit card information may have been compromised during the incident.  After a comprehensive analysis, our forensic investigators were unable to find evidence that any credit card information was accessed or stolen.  Out of an abundance of caution, we are letting you know about the incident so you can take steps to protect yourself.  

During the time period that someone may have accessed our system, all credit card information processed on our system was maintained on an encrypted server and was protected by security protocols.

************************************



Coincidence? I doubt it. I decided to email the company and let them know that I recently experienced a stolen credit card information. Here is their response:




************************************
Thank you for contacting Discount Rubber Stamps.

We have no proof that any specific information was accessed or stolen from our website. We provided notice to customers because we do not know that some customer payment information including name, address and credit card information was accessible through our system.  While there may be a risk that information was compromised, there was no proof that any specific information was accessed or stolen.

Please continue to work with your financial institution associated with your credit card.

Thank you.

Regards,
Discount Rubber Stamps
800-348-1689
************************************

I am not sure how they would be able to come up with "proof" that specific information was accessed or stolen without an electronic audit trail enabled but obviously thieves got my information from somewhere and it sure seems suspicious.

Thankfully, my credit card company was on top of the situation and all seems to be back to normal again.

Still thinking here at Doe Valley

Slime Tire Gauge

About a year ago I purchased a Slime brand tire pressure gauge, the round type with a needle to show the pressure in the tire. It broke after only a few uses, so I contacted Slime and they replaced the gauge free of charge.

Last month, the tire pressure light on my car came on. This didn’t surprise me because it happens when the temperature drops. So I check the tire pressure and three of the tires were a few psi low, and one was about 10 psi low. I pumped up the tires and everything was good.

The next week the tps light illuminated again. I checked the tires and only the one was about 10 psi low again. I figured there was a slow leak in the tire, so I took it off and searched for a leak. I couldn’t find anything. I took the tire to the local garage and they couldn’t find the leak either. I put the tire back on and figured I would see what happens.

The tps light didn’t come on for a couple of weeks, so I thought I would check the tire pressure again. Sure enough it was about 10 psi low, but the tps light didn’t come on, so I figured something was wrong with the tire and tps. No big deal, I’ll just check the tire pressure each week to see what is happening.

After a couple of weeks, I got tired of dragging out the compressor and extension cord, so I purchased an air tank to top off the tires. This was much easier. I found all the tires on both of my cars were reading different air pressures each week. Each week I would pump them up to the proper psi.

Finally after almost two months, I decided to try a different tire pressure gauge. All of my tires should be 33 psi per the manufacture. When I used the Slime gauge they were reading 23 to 28 psi each week. When I used my craftsman digital they read 40 to 45 psi! I got a cheap pencil gauge and it was also reading in the 40 to 45 psi range.

Unbelievable, I was furious. I spent weeks messing around with my tires and even bought an air tank all because of a stupid, inaccurate tire pressure gauge made from a company that sold a defective product from the beginning!

The scary part is I used this tire gauge on my motorcycle too! Having an under or over inflated tire isn’t as dangerous in a car as it could be on a motorcycle.

In the past I have written to consumer reports and popular mechanics regarding tire pressure gauges. A couple of times a year they harp on the importance of proper tire pressure in your vehicle. They usually even state something like, even 1 psi off can make a difference in fuel economy and handling. Well, I have used multiple tire gauges on my cars and have gotten different results repeatedly. So, I asked them to do a report on tire gauges to see which one is most accurate. As you can imagine, no response and I have yet to see a report testing them.

Moral of the story, I will be using two tire gauges to check the pressure in my tires from now on. I suggest everyone else to do the same.

Mostly Reading, but still thinking on occasion.

The bulk of my most recent posts have been nothing but book reviews, but every once in a while I still think of something and here is today's thought.

We all have our morning or bedtime routines. It probably involves washing our face and hair, brushing our teeth and whatever else. Well I noticed something this morning. All of the products I use (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc) have a label on that gives you directions on how to use the product and also warnings about misusing the product.

Don't believe me, take a minute and check it out for yourself. They all have the label. Except for one product that I stumbled across this morning. My razor! I am currently using the Gillette Sensor 3 disposable razors and there are no instructions on the package nor are there any warning labels. What is more dangerous, a bottle of shampoo or a razor?

Very interesting thinking for today!

Letter to Senator Casey

Dear Senator Casey:

Congratulations on your recent election victory.

Some of the pressing items we are facing today are: elevated levels of unemployment, unprecedented debt levels, the breakdown of the family structure, threats from other countries, destroying our future by aborting our children, dramatic rise in government assistance, drastic cost increases with healthcare, burdensome taxes and many more items that will eventually lead to the downfall of America as we know it if left unchecked.

Here are some ideas to help redirect the country:

1. Our family structure is dissolving. Historically, this has led to the downfall of many countries. We need to defend and support marriage between one man and one women. We need to stop destroying our future generation by using abortion as a form of birth control.

2. Our government spending is out of control. Many people, mostly from the Democratic party, do not believe we have a spending problem, rather we have a revenue problem. They believe the wealthy are not paying their fair share of taxes. One of the quickest and easiest ways to generate revenue and raise taxes on the wealthy is to remove the cap on social security wages. Why stop the social security tax at $110,100? Remove the cap and the wealthy will have higher taxes and this will also help secure social security for years to come. We don't need national health insurance, but we do need affordable health care. People need to take responsibility for their actions. People should not be given handouts, they should be given incentives to get back to work. They should be trained to do a job, rather than given money to sit at home, watch television, smoke cigarettes, and drink beer.

3. We need to protect our nation from other countries. We need to secure our borders. We need to pay attention and act upon any information about threats that we receive. We also need to continue to support our military, not just while they are deployed, but when they return as well. We need to truly be "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President:

Congratulations on your recent election victory. As I am sure you are aware, even though you can't publicly admit it, the state of our union is not good.

Some of the pressing items we are facing today are: elevated levels of unemployment, unprecedented debt levels, the breakdown of the family structure, threats from other countries, destroying our future by aborting our children, dramatic rise in government assistance, drastic cost increases with healthcare, burdensome taxes and many more items that will eventually lead to the downfall of America as we know it if left unchecked.

Now is the time to make a change. Now is the time to step up and be the leader that brings America back on track to independence and prosperity. Don't push the blame onto others, you are the President, you are the leader of what I and many others believe to be the greatest nation on this planet.

Here are some ideas to help redirect the country:

1. Our family structure is dissolving. Historically, this has led to the downfall of many nations. We need to defend and support marriage between one man and one women. We need to stop destroying our future generation by using abortion as a form of birth control.

2. Our government spending is out of control. You have said that we have a revenue problem, not a spending problem. You have said you want to increase taxes on the wealthy. One of the quickest and easiest ways to do this is to remove the cap on social security wages. Why stop the social security tax at $110,100? Remove the cap and the wealthy will have higher taxes and this will also help secure social security for years to come. We don't need national health insurance, but we do need affordable health care. People need to take responsibility for their actions. People should not be given handouts, they should be given incentives to get back to work. They should be trained to do a job, rather than given money to sit at home, watch television, smoke cigarettes, and drink beer.

3. We need to protect our nation from other countries. We need to secure our borders. We need to pay attention and act upon any information about threats that we receive. We also need to continue to support our military, not just while they are deployed, but when they return as well. We need to truly be "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Kenmore Electric Dryer Bearing Replacement

This weekend I decided to replace the bearing in my Kenmore Electric Dryer, model #417.80042990.

The dryer started squeaking sometime last fall. I purchased the part in October to repair the dryer over Thanksgiving or Christmas, but the dry stopped making the noise. Of course, right after the new year it started squeaking again.

The process was pretty easy and only took about 2 hours. It can be accomplished by one person, but it helps to have a second person available to help.

Here is a list of tools you will need:
Several sizes of Phillips head screwdrivers
Flat head screwdriver or other prying tool
Shop-Vac
Wire Cutters
Socket-Set

Turn the the circuit breaker off for the dryer!

Remove the top cover of the dryer. This is done by prying up the front near the tabs. This takes some force. Once the front is off the tabs, the top will lift off the tabs in the back. Remove the ground clip from the dryer.

Remove the front cover of the dryer. There are two screws about 6 inches down from the top on each side. Remove these screws and the front cover will fall forward. Disconnect the control wires on the right side. You may need the wire cutters to cut any plastic ties that hold the wires into place. Lift the cover out of the bottom tabs. This too takes a little force.

Get behind the dryer and remove the access panel/vent in the lower corner. Remove the spring to release the tension on the drive belt. Slide the belt off the drum to the back of the dryer. Lift the drum up out of the plastic cup, about 2-3 inches. This will take some effort, you will know when it is out.

You may need to remove a yellow plastic stopper on the front of the dryer to slide the drum forward. Remove the plastic piece on the back of the dryer. Install the new plastic piece with the ball bearing on the back of the dryer. The jagged corners of the back plate face the back of the dryer.

Remove the three screws holding the metal plate onto the back of the drum. Install the new metal plate.

Vacuum all areas of dust and lint. Lubricate the ball bearing and the metal ball on the plate attached to the drum.

Reinstall the drum into the dryer. Reinstall the belt and spring. Reinstall the front cover by placing the bottom in the tabs then screwing the top into place. Reconnect the wires (they are keyed to only connect one way) and use a cable tie to keep them out of the way of the drum. Reinstall the access panel/vent on the rear of the dryer. Reinstall the top cover by inserting the back tabs into the slots. Also reconnect the ground wire near the back. Then press the front of the top down to secure it.

Turn the circuit breaker back on and test.

Buying large quanities saves money right?

I am sure you have all heard the concept of buying larger quantities to save money right? I know that has been my thought as well, so last night at Wal*Mart I decided to find out how true this old saying really is.

I only looked at two items, so it isn't very scientific, but they are two items that I buy periodically.

First up was kitchen garbage bags, 13 gallon Glad Drawstrings, unscented.
78 bags cost $10.58 or $0.1356 cents per bag
45 bags cost $5.98 or $0.1328 cents per bag

Therefore, it is cheaper to buy the smaller quantity.

Next up, Vitamins, One Source Active Children's Chewable.
240 count cost $10.98 or $0.045 cents per pill
144 count cost $5.98 or $0.041 cents per pill

Again, it is cheaper to buy the smaller quantity.

I also did some quick comparisons on Amazon as well. It seems as though the same thing occurs.
100 bags = $0.1554 per bag
160 bags = $0.2006 per bag

The point is, always compare prices before buying larger quantities.




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Lasagna anyway you cook it!

While I was shopping the other day I noticed in the pasta area there were two types of Lasagna, oven ready and regular.

I needed to know the difference, so I started my sleuthing.

First, the obvious. Both were branded with the Great Value label. The oven ready box is blue. The regular box is red.

Next, I observed the price. $1.49 for each. Interesting.

What about the size of the box? The regular box is 16 ounces and the oven ready box is only 12 ounces.

That's it! The weight is different, therefore, it must be because the ingredients are different making one box heaver than the other.

Upon looking at the ingredients they were identical.

So then what is the difference between regular lasagna and oven ready lasagna?

Apparently you get 4 ounces less of the oven ready lasagna for the same price as a regular box!

Remember you read it here first at Doe Valley, the place that answers those tough questions simply by thinking.




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Book Destruction!

I mentioned that I was going to destroy one of the books I recently reviewed, so it would never deceive anyone again. Here are some images of that destruction!

The End

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Blogging

As many of my long time readers know, I haven't been watching the news much anymore. I found that I was getting too irritated and agitated at things the liberal media overlooks for its Democratic buddies.

For example, a few years ago the media pretty much demanded Bush to release his college transcripts, which he did. What about Obama? No demand from the media to release his college transcripts. Which isn't a big deal to me, but it is the point of the matter of the liberal bias in the media.

It's not that I don't have ideas for blogs, I have tons of them. In fact, since the media compares Obama to Lincoln and other people, I was working on my own comparison of Barack Obama. Of course mine was going to compare Obama with the anti-Christ and Satan......but why get myself worked up over something I can't change. Here is an interesting post on the comparison of Obama and Lincoln.

I am tired of it and cannot continue to be frustrated by it for the next four years or longer. So my blog postings will be minimal. I will probably only write about the few things that happen more on a local or state scale rather than the federal level.

Besides, when the digital TV conversion takes effect, I will no longer be able to watch TV!

I also set a goal to read one book a month this year, so I will continue to post my reviews of them here as well starting tomorrow.

Just one more thought provoking question before I go:

Have we ever found out for sure if Obama is actually an American by birth, which of course is required to be President of the United States?



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2008 Suzuki SX4 Rear Differential Oil Change

A few weekends ago I changed the rear differential oil in my 2008 Suzuki SX4. Here is a brief overview of the process.

Items needed
At least 1 quart of 80w90 gear oil (2 quarts is a better idea)
Socket wrench
Drain container
Rags/newspapers

The manual says to change the rear differential oil at 7,500 miles.

The manual calls for 80w90 gear oil. I like to use synthetic and it was tough to find locally. I ended up with Valvoline Dura-Blend. It is a synthetic blend gear oil.

The process was not hard. It is simply a matter of crawling under the rear of the vehicle.

First, I loosened the fill plug with the socket wrench. Then, I removed the drain plug and let the oil drain out. I noticed the oil was bluish. I replaced the drain plug and added slightly less than a quart of gear oil. It is easy to tell when you have added enough oil as it will start to drip out of the fill hole.

It was easy to squeeze the oil into the fill hole. However, I noticed that when about half the bottle was emptied I couldn’t get anymore out of the bottle. So I took the other quart and refilled the “squeeze” bottle.

I finished filling the rear differential, tighten the drain and fill plugs and then cleaned up.

Simple process to do. The oil was about $5 a quart and it took less than an hour to complete.

2008 Suzuki SX4 Oil Change Procedure

Below is a brief description about changing the oil on a 2008 Suzuki SX4. The following parts were used during the process:

• 4.75 quarts 5w30 oil (SuperTech Full Synthetic)
• Oil Filter (Fram TG4386)
• 17 mm and 10 mm wrench
• End Cap Oil Filter Wrench
• Oil drain container
• Jack or Ramps
• Latex gloves
• Rags, newspapers

I attempted to change the oil in my car last week, but I was unable to get at the oil filter. This is a more difficult car to change the oil in than I am used to for a couple of reasons. First, the car sits low to the ground and is virtually impossible to crawl under. Second, the oil filter is in a challenging location to get to.

The first step was to jack up the front passenger side of the car enough to slide under the car and work. I was going to attempt using ramps, but the bumper hit the ramps before the tires so I decided to just use a floor jack. Once under the car, I removed the three screws (using the 10mm wrench) holding the plastic engine cover. I did not remove the engine cover, but by simply removing those three screws allowed the guard to flex enough to get my hands up to the oil filter.

The next step was to see if I could get the oil filter loose. The end cap filter wrench I purchased did not fit the OEM oil filter, however, it does fit the FRAM filter which I plan to use in the future. After quite a while of messing around with it, we were finally able to loosen it. It was difficult!

After it was loose, I removed the oil pan drain plug with a 17mm wrench and the oil drained into the drain container. I reinstalled and tightened the drain screw and emptied the oil into another container.

Next, I slowly turned the oil filter until it started to drip out. I gave it another quarter turn and then let the oil drain into my container. After the oil stopped draining, I removed the filter completely and wiped the filter area clean.

I ran a bead of oil around the seal of the new filter and installed it. It was rather difficult to get it started. The threads did not seem to want to align correctly. DO NOT FORCE IT ON. Keep adjusting it until it screws on easily.

After the filter seal touches the bottom of the engine and is finger tight, put the end cap filter wrench on and give it a half to three quarter turn to tighten completely.

Refill the crankcase with about 4.75 quarts of oil. Start the engine and check for leaks. Cleanup and dispose of the used oil properly.

Good for another 6,000 miles!