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The Random Adventure That Is Life (RATIL)

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DIY house projects that save me money.

Maytag 5000 Dryer Repair

Maytag 5000 Dryer Repair

DISCLAIMER: I am not a repair professional, just a slightly handy homeowner. We have a Maytag 5000 series washer and dryer in our house that were left by the previous owners. DO NOT ever buy these pieces of junk. I am done with Maytag and won't ever buy

Toniebox Tonies Duration Python Script

Toniebox Tonies Duration Python Script

Maximize your value on Tonie figurines with this sorted list of Tonie durations.

Bulk Download Photos From Procare

Bulk Download Photos From Procare

Our son's daycare/preschool uses Procare to track attendance and send info about the school including pictures of the kids during the day. As he moved to a new school for Kindergarten, we wanted to make sure that we had all his photos from the app. Too bad

DIY Barn Door

A common architectural feature out here in Colorado is to not actually put a door between the master bedroom and the master bathroom. So we decided a barn door was the best option but given the non-standard (wider than normal) size of our doorway, the only pre-made options were going

pfSense With CenturyLink 1GB Fiber

pfSense With CenturyLink 1GB Fiber

We just recently moved into a neighborhood that offers CenturyLink 1GB fiber into the house. I mistakenly though the change would be as simple as plugging in my current setup to whatever modem they provided. Turns out that is not the case and that a little more work is required.

pfSense Insights

pfSense Insights

This post will be updated as I find out interesting tidbits while working with my pfSense. Usually this will be getting something in the house to work as expected with out opening up the firewall to everything. Amazon Shopping App UPDATE: The solution listed below no longer works. The Amazon

Sump Pump Replacement

Sump Pump Replacement

Over the holidays I went over to my mom's house to visit and as I walk in the door, she is pulling everything out of the closet under the stairs and I could hear a high-pitched alarm going off. Her sump alarm was going off. My mom really

2017 Acura RDX 'A16' Service

2017 Acura RDX 'A16' Service

DIY car service can save you some serious money, especially when some of the maintenance can be done in your own garage. The A16 service for the RDX is: * Oil change (no filter, that is only with B service) * Rear differential fluid change * Tire rotation Cost Because I had already

Server Migration

Server Migration

I had a need to migrate this server to a different provider for cost reasons. This was also a good chance to document my process since I did NOT do that last time. I ended up going with Digital Ocean [https://www.digitalocean.com/].Amazon [https://aws.amazon.com/lightsail/

Pikler Triangle

Pikler Triangle

First off, I am no wood worker, I just found this Instructable and followed it pretty closely. In the areas where I did the same thing, I will just gloss over it, but if I did something different or needed additional information, I will add that in. Follow this guide

My Brewing Process

My Brewing Process

A friend at work and I got on the topic of brewing and though I brew on a somewhat regular basis, that conversation really re-invigorated my passion for this hobby. As such I though it appropriate to detail my process for two purposes: 1) So that some new brewer somewhere

A/C Repair On The Cheap

A/C Repair On The Cheap

Well, our house is literally falling apart around us. After the washer going on the fritz a couple weeks ago, now our A/C is acting up. Just another opportunity to save a few hundred dollars in the Steen household. Basically the fan inside was just blowing warm air. My

Maytag 5000 SUD and F35 Error

Maytag 5000 SUD and F35 Error

UPDATE: This ended up not solving the problem. I had to replace the Central Control Unit (CCU). This part is normally $200+ but I found the same part on eBay (along with some other control part) for $75. I installed this and now the error is gone, this was most

2010 Acura RDX 'A14' Service (Plus Brakes)

2010 Acura RDX 'A14' Service (Plus Brakes)

My wife's car just rolled over 100K miles!!! Woohoo! This is the first 'A14' service the car has needed. 'A14' includes: * Oil change (no filter) * Replace spark plugs * Adjust the valves (only if they are noisy) * Brake fluid flush (3 year interval) The steps

Home Built Weather and Air Traffic Reciever (Stratux)

Home Built Weather and Air Traffic Reciever (Stratux)

I was finally able to get out and fly this weekend to test out my newest toy...an ADS-B IN receiver built from a Raspberry Pi. Now that I have tested it and have a nice screenshot of the info is provides (proof or it didn't happen right?

2010 Acura RDX 'B13' Service

2010 Acura RDX 'B13' Service

This post got a little long, sorry. I have always been extremely appreciative of folks who have taken time to write or record the steps they took to do different services or maintenance on their vehicles. Their contributions have helped me become somewhat of a "shade tree mechanic"