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Apr. 27th, 2025 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsyIn doing a post-winter test run, I found the lawn mower (aged 22) was leaking oil from around the head gasket. On a car, that would be a major task or an ownership-ending event. On a lawn mower, it's a matter of removing a bunch of bolts and a few other parts to replace a $10 part, still available. The replacement took a bit over an hour, mostly for the learning curve, partially for not having as many SAE hand tools as I thought. Most importantly, it starts and runs again, less smoky than before. Much less of a fight to get it started, too.
I got Ai together just enough that she can move out of the garage under her own power, with the intent of putting Nozomi in the service spot. Easier said than done because Nozomi's clutch pedal does nothing now, making shifting much more difficult. I've never replaced a clutch by my own hands before and that's about to change. The last time I had a mechanic do that it cost me almost $1500. In 2016.
The new computer (a couple years old already) has the capacity to have as much as 128GB of RAM. I already had 64GB in it, and I figured I might as well get another set and max it out. Do I need that much? No. So I'm using it one day, and it goes blue screen on me. It restarts. And restarts. And restarts. Nothing on the monitor. I shut it off at the supply, pull the memory I just put in, restart, and it's fine again. Alrighty then. Apparently my own computer has decided that 128GB is too much. I've seen that happen on other computers. Or maybe the new memory is gummed up. I'll figure out which later on.
I got lighting kits for the Shinkansen and the Yamanote train sets. Kato made it relatively easy to install those by designing their trains with those lighting kits in mind. The wheels already conduct power, it's just a matter of installing the metal clips, the LED module, and the light diffuser. Taking the shell off was easy, a light pry on one end with one thumbnail and then zip down the side with the other thumbnail to open it the rest of the way. Putting them in the Shinkansen was easy enough, but the Yamanote cars are proving a little difficult, if only because the lights flicker a little as the cars move. I know that's going to be annoying, so I'm going to see if I can put some capacitors in to smooth that out. Gonna have to experiment to see what will work.
One of the ultra-cheap lenses I picked up in Japan was ultra-cheap for a reason: Both the front and rear element groups are full of fungus. I took the lens apart to try to remedy that, only to find the affected groups are glued together as a sub-assembly. Well, I paid $10 for it, and I got $10 of entertainment from it. I looked up that lens model and even when it was new, it wasn't a high-end offering. It was what Canon put in the box with entry-level cameras so the buyer at least had a lens to use. I got it back together with no extra parts leftover but it'll probably never be used for photography again unless I can figure out how to un-seal those groups without destroying them. Or if someone wants to recreate what it was like to take pictures of Bigfoot in 1970. Curiously, the older FD-mount lens I got at the same place for even less seems to be in better shape.
M3-55 was this weekend. While I wasn't in Japan for it, I'll be able to get some of the CDs sold there via Booth and other assorted sources.
I got Ai together just enough that she can move out of the garage under her own power, with the intent of putting Nozomi in the service spot. Easier said than done because Nozomi's clutch pedal does nothing now, making shifting much more difficult. I've never replaced a clutch by my own hands before and that's about to change. The last time I had a mechanic do that it cost me almost $1500. In 2016.
The new computer (a couple years old already) has the capacity to have as much as 128GB of RAM. I already had 64GB in it, and I figured I might as well get another set and max it out. Do I need that much? No. So I'm using it one day, and it goes blue screen on me. It restarts. And restarts. And restarts. Nothing on the monitor. I shut it off at the supply, pull the memory I just put in, restart, and it's fine again. Alrighty then. Apparently my own computer has decided that 128GB is too much. I've seen that happen on other computers. Or maybe the new memory is gummed up. I'll figure out which later on.
I got lighting kits for the Shinkansen and the Yamanote train sets. Kato made it relatively easy to install those by designing their trains with those lighting kits in mind. The wheels already conduct power, it's just a matter of installing the metal clips, the LED module, and the light diffuser. Taking the shell off was easy, a light pry on one end with one thumbnail and then zip down the side with the other thumbnail to open it the rest of the way. Putting them in the Shinkansen was easy enough, but the Yamanote cars are proving a little difficult, if only because the lights flicker a little as the cars move. I know that's going to be annoying, so I'm going to see if I can put some capacitors in to smooth that out. Gonna have to experiment to see what will work.
One of the ultra-cheap lenses I picked up in Japan was ultra-cheap for a reason: Both the front and rear element groups are full of fungus. I took the lens apart to try to remedy that, only to find the affected groups are glued together as a sub-assembly. Well, I paid $10 for it, and I got $10 of entertainment from it. I looked up that lens model and even when it was new, it wasn't a high-end offering. It was what Canon put in the box with entry-level cameras so the buyer at least had a lens to use. I got it back together with no extra parts leftover but it'll probably never be used for photography again unless I can figure out how to un-seal those groups without destroying them. Or if someone wants to recreate what it was like to take pictures of Bigfoot in 1970. Curiously, the older FD-mount lens I got at the same place for even less seems to be in better shape.
M3-55 was this weekend. While I wasn't in Japan for it, I'll be able to get some of the CDs sold there via Booth and other assorted sources.
