Jay Gaulard Blog

This Blog is No One Way Street

May 15, 2008 – 3:33 pm | by jaygaulardcom

I was just thinking, I should be getting more comments on this blog. I was taking a look at my stats last night and traffic has tripled from about a year ago. Have the comments tripled? Probably, but it doesn’t seem like they did.

It’s like business…nothing is ever good enough. You can make the “holy cow” ten billion dollar sale, but what did you really do? You just made the next ten billion dollar sale a little less exciting. I get comments and I thank you for them, but here is what I really want…

I want every single person who ever read this blog to comment on a post. Use a fake name, I don’t care. I like getting comments. They are fun to read and respond to, although, I am not the best responder. I get a kick out of when people try to push my buttons and say things that go against my grain. I am doing my part now I ask that you do yours.

Now, if I can just take my own advice and start commenting on people’s blogs…

Postage Stamp Price Increase

May 15, 2008 – 3:25 pm | by jaygaulardcom

Oh, I’m on a tear this afternoon.

As it so happens, I purchased two new books of stamps this morning. I noticed the price of each stamp increased to 42 cents. I really didn’t take too much notice of the price, because I can never keep up with the seemingly eternal miniscule price increases the postal service keep throwing at us.

This afternoon, I put three letters in the new mailbox to go out. After a while, I walked up to the new (and level) mailbox to retrieve today’s mail. There was a little note from the mail delivery human indicating that postage had gone up to 42 cents. I got a little perturbed.

I walked inside and told Laura about the whole fiasco, from dropping off the letters at the new mailbox to gathering today’s mail from the level mailbox (I am going to get this thing run over…I know). It’s not the price increase that gets to me, it’s the damn one cent stamps that we have to keep using. Here’s what I am saying…make up your #$%& minds. I told Laura they should just raise the damn price to a buck and get it over with. Never raise it again. One cent here, two cents there. Do the geniuses at the USPS really think the public wants to deal with figuring out the price of stamps as their past time?

I know I am making a bigger deal out of this than it really is, and that I could always go buy the “Forever Stamp,” but really…just raise it like ten cents and leave us along for a few years.

Trust me, I am well aware of my shortcomings when it comes to getting excited about things like this. You have to admit though, these little blog posts are kind of funny.

A New Computer - What Should I Get?

May 15, 2008 – 1:59 pm | by jaygaulardcom

This one is for those people out there who know about computers. When people are searching for a new computer, they usually ask me what to get. I say something like, “I design websites, what the heck do I know about computers?” That usually gets some mean look and the person walks away. I haven’t been known for my bright attitude at times.

Well, I usually do ok, but I am getting a little tired of buying computers. I want my next one to last. I bought the one I am working on about 6 months ago. I am going to keep this one for something, but I need a monster. Here is the issue…I work with tons of files. One of my sites has 59,000 image files that I need to copy/paste, delete, move, whatever. That’s just one example. I also have very large files that I need to open/close, etc… My problem isn’t the need for processor power to run huge applications or for gaming, I just need something for big, and lots of files. Uploads and downloads are my middle names. I have been working on getting the fastest servers available and now my bottleneck has become my PC.

Here is what I am thinking:

- Dell Precision T7400 Workstation
- Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5405 (2.00GHz,2X6M L2,1333) (Do I need a 2nd processor?)
- Genuine Windows Vista® Business, with Media (I’m willing to move on from XP. Plus, Vista actually puts the computer in sleep mode, like I never got XP to do. Big power savings.)
- 3 Year ProSupport for End Users and 3 Year NBD On-site Service (This is important because I want someone in this house if the computer breaks.)
- 256MB PCIe x16 nVidia NVS 290, Dual Monitor DVI Capable ( I know absolutely nothing about video cards.)
- 4GB, DDR2 SDRAM FBD Memory, 667MHz, ECC (4 DIMMS) (I want more.)
- C23 All SAS drives, RAID 5, 3 drive total configuration ( I also know nothing about RAID. I basically want the speed of SAS drives, the speed of two drives working together and the redundancy of a third drive. I don’t know the difference between RAID 0 and RAID 5.)
- Three 146GB SAS Hard Drives, 1 inch (15,000 rpm) (How much faster are SAS drives than SATA drives?)
- PERC6/i SAS/SATA Hardware RAID Card - For Connecting Internal Hard Drives
- Dell 1505 Wireless-N PCIe Card

So there you have it. I already have a monitor, so that’s cool. I think I can save a few bucks by switching out the SAS drives for SATA drives. It depends on what I find out about them. I want more RAM, but didn’t see the option for more. I am wondering about another processor and the video card.

Well, any advice? Am I missing anything?

Car Parked in the Garage

May 15, 2008 – 1:31 pm | by jaygaulardcom

I can definitely see how people’s garages get full of stuff. I mean, it’s like a playpen in there. Right now, I have all sorts of tools and shelves…old mailboxes, you name it. The last thing I want to do is organize it to make space for a car. Well, when Winter comes, I am definitely going to do that.

The other day, I discovered a squirrel living under the hood of my car. I also discovered some mouse droppings in there as well. Can you believe it? The car has about 4,500 miles on it and this happens. I decided that it would be a good time to see if both the cars fit in the garage. A few nights were a bit cool and the vermin may have been looking for a place to snuggle. Well, this would throw them off the “under the hood scent.”

I got both of them in there, but there really wasn’t that much room to take a photo. The one above is the best I was able to get.

Laura’s car is still in there. She hasn’t driven it since we got here, which is good for her wallet…or purse…whatever.

New Samsung 2693HM 25.5″ Widescreen LCD Monitor

May 13, 2008 – 10:44 pm | by jaygaulardcom

Seriously, this is as big as I am going to get. I have been using my 22″ monitor for the past few months, but we need that for the other office. I can’t work on two computers, one having a large monitor and one having only a 19″. I tend to get used to the large one.

I bought this Samsung 2693HM 25.5″ Widescreen LCD Monitor (2693HM) the other day and Circuit City delivered it to me today. I thought I would be ready for it. I have to say, it’s kind of big and bright. It’s going to take some getting used to.

I am sure I will, I did with the other one.

What I am going to do with the 22″? Well, as I mentioned above, I am putting that one in the other room. Then, I am going to take the 19″ and use it here, for the computer I am using right now. Then, when I get my new computer (just wait for that one), I will hook this big monitor up to it.

No more messing around.

New Mailbox Installed

May 13, 2008 – 8:35 pm | by jaygaulardcom

Today was an adventurous day for us. We had to go to the DMV to get our Connecticut drivers licenses. That in itself was an adventure. Now, we need to update our car insurance and go back to register the cars here. The thing that really stinks is that I just paid for a new registration for my old car, then got a new car and paid again. Now, I have to pay all over. I wish they would pro-rate a refund for me. Fat chance of that happening.

We also went to Home Depot to get the new mailbox supplies. As I said in an earlier post, I got the new post, a mailbox, some Thompson’s Water Seal, some cement and the brass post numbers. I think that’s it. I mean, I got some other stuff too, but none of it relates to this story. Ok, I’ll tell you what else I got…a new rake, a rake handle that I broke the other day and a 5 gallon, plastic gas tank. Satisfied?

I got the post all soaked with the water seal, then nailed on the numbers. Then, I cut a piece of scrap wood and screwed it on to the post and then screwed the mailbox onto the scrap wood. I am a real carpenter. I did have another job before me though, and that was to get the old mailbox out of the ground. I had no idea how it was installed.

I went up to the road with my shovel and started digging. Then, I noticed some rocks that were cemented together. I had to walk back down to the garage to get my sledgehammer. I walked back up and broke the rocks and cement apart with the hammer. That was pretty easy. Ok, so I started wiggling the mailbox post, trying t pull it out of the ground. Oh, no, not that easy. I first had to dig some more dirt out, only to find more cement down at the bottom. I dug and dug and finally got the whole thing out. I kind of made a bigger hole than I thought I would. Honestly, I thought would just go up there and pull the sucker out and use my post hole digger to widen the hole a bit. Now, I had a two foot hole across. Whatever. I used the post hole digger to dig down a few inches, so the new mailbox was the proper height, whatever that is. It looked good to me.

Cement time…I went back down to the garage and mixed up the bag of cement I got in the wheelbarrow. I brought that up and cemented the whole base of the post. I threw in some rocks and dirt on top of th cement. Then, I used my level about 30 times to make sure the post was perfectly level. I stomped the dirt down and…

…there you have it. The most level mailbox post on the whole road. You can’t tell me that’s not the most perfect install you have ever seen. Sometimes, I need to just pat myself on the back (since no one else will).

Simon Basking on the Stairs

May 13, 2008 – 8:20 pm | by jaygaulardcom

When we got home this afternoon, we found fat Simon laying out on the stairs, soaking up the sun. The weird thing is that he didn’t move when we tried to get up and down. He only moved when Holly ran by. I think he got a little nervous, because we all know Holly will step on your face if given the chance.

I ran to get my camera, but by the time I got back to Simon, he was already sitting up. Oh well, at least I got this pleasurable pose…

Installing a New Mailbox

May 12, 2008 – 4:12 pm | by jaygaulardcom

Yeah, I keep saying I am going to run to Home Depot to get the mailbox stuff, but I just haven’t found the time yet.

I feel like I’ve been stuck inside for days…wait, that’s because I have been. I am doing so much stuff. Unfortunately, it’s all at the same time. I take breaks to rake leaves, which, by the way, are all finished in the front. I even sweat a bit. You should have seen the bugs swirling around my head.

I have a list for the next time we go to the Depot. I need a new mailbox. I am thinking green would be nice. I am going to get a nice traditional post, like many others on the road. I am also going to pick up some more Thompson’s Water Seal (with UV protection). I am going to treat the entire post, from top to bottom. Then, I am going to dig a nice deep hole and actually use cement way down deep. If it’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s having a crooked mailbox post. I know how they get crooked…it’s because of the snowplows slamming snow against them all Winter. With my installation, I am going to try to beat the plows.

I also have to get a 5 gallon plastic gas container for the ride-on lawnmower I plan on getting towards the end of the month. Right now, I only have a push mower and that’s not going to work so well up near the road. The kind neighbor offered to mow up in that area when she does hers. I thought that was nice. I explained to her that I really don’t want to be “that guy” who just moved in and now the grass is too high.

My brother came over yesterday for a visit. He works up North of Hartford, so it was only a 28 mile trip for him. I thought that was pretty cool. We went for a walk down into the woods and then down the nature trail. Then, we got the dog and walked up the road to the dead end. I wanted to show him all the nice houses. It’s good that he is so close now because we can hang out more. I keep offering to make him dinner, but he wants to keep eating in restaurants. One day…

I am planning on taking down the basketball hoop that is set up near the driveway. I offered it to my brother and he accepted. It’s in very good shape. I’m just wondering how deep that sucker goes into the dirt and how much cement they used as the footing. It may be a long day of digging.

I’ll show you some pictures of the new mailbox when I get it in.

Lots of Raking Leaves Out of Gardens

May 8, 2008 – 6:46 pm | by jaygaulardcom

We took another trip to a different town today. We went food shopping at Stop and Shop in Colchester. Colchester was a pretty neat town, but a little busy for my taste. It was cute with a nice park right off main street. I think it may have seemed busy because rush hour was getting close.

While in Stop and Shop, I felt a bit tired. I kept wondering why. Then, I remembered what I had done all morning…raked leaves. By the way, Stop and Shop’s prices were waaay lower than Whole Foods. We got about triple the product for just a little mo’ money. That’s cool with me. I think we are still going to go back to Whole Foods because I like the atmosphere. Stop and Shop seemed much more like just buying food to survive. If I am going to go out somewhere, I like to have an “experience.”

Anyway, back to those leaves. Since this propery is a bit larger than our other one, it is taking a little while to get used to. One thing I noticed was that there needs a lot of raking to be done. There are many gardens (which are very nice and right up my alley), but they need a bit of TLC because of the Winter. The good thing is that they have a nice variety of plants already planted. There isn’t much in the way of running out to the nursery to get new stuff. Yesterday, we went to Home Depot for some spruces and pachysandra. I got the spruces, but there was no pachysandra to be found. When we got home, I noticed there was pachysandra already scattered throughout the front. They were just kind of buried with leaves.

A few days ago, I decided to it would be best if I picked one area per day to rake. There is no sense me killing myself and I can always use a nice break from the computer. I already did about three or four areas and things are starting to come together. Today, I did part of the big front garden and along the front of the house.

Believe it or not, this area had three tarp fulls of leaves. One tarp full equals about four wheel barrow loads. Crazy. If you are wondering what the heck a tarp full is, it’s me laying a big tarp on the ground and raking the leaves onto it. When it’s full, I pick it up like a big sack and carry it into the woods.

The front of the house was easier with only one tarp full. I needed to get the leaves away from the house because, well, it looks better and I can also get to the foundation for insect spray.

After I am all done getting all the leaves up, I am really going to focus on getting the lawn in order. I already have been doing some stuff, but it needs to be raked and reseeded.

Also, this is the month I get my new ride on lawnmower. I am planning on this towards the end of the month, so there maybe one tough day with the push mower.

45 Piece Screwdriving Set

May 7, 2008 – 10:53 pm | by jaygaulardcom

Today, we quickly ran up to Home Depot in Glastonbury for a few things. I had to get some yard stuff, some more light bulbs and some little pine trees. I got seven Blue Spruces. Oh yeah, I also wanted to get some screwdriver bits.

What I really needed was some sort of an extender for my existing screwdriver bits. I find myself increasingly needing longer bits, but I am stuck with all these short bits I bought a while back. I was just going to get a few long bits, but then remembered back to when I actually had one of these things…it got dull fast.

As I was looking around for alternatives, this little DeWalt set of screwdriver bits caught my eye…

I love these little kits. This one has the extender piece I need and a whole lot more. It is also the same size as my DeWalt drill bit set. I love having the kit, because I can keep it in my tool box, use the tool and then return it to the tolbox, nice and neat.

That’s the way I roll. Don’t try to change me.