Activities from a Saturday evening

OK, I am bored today. Bored because there is a lot of things to do and bored because I don't know which one to start because there is so little time left to do them before family time kicks in. In other words, its a lazy Saturday after a very heavy lunch with my Aunt who is going back to Australia in the evening. We had to say goodbye to her instead of sending her off since the kids had swimming to go to.

Because I am not in the pool this time, Kaelynn

played around in the water.

Yes, she meant to splash me with the

water until I scolded her as I was not

in the mood

Kristine on the other hand was practising

hard. But in her class, she is easily the

weakest.

OK, lesson's over and teacher is handing out

sweets; the highlight for the day. I had to

get her to thank the teacher before going off

Normally, at this time, the Federal Highway

would be full of cars. Thanks to the World Cup,

everyone stayed away.

On the way home, we stopped by a petrol

station to get some things for tomorrow's

trip to Tanjung Sepat. And I noticed the

staff's ingeniuity in solving a leaking air-con

problem. they tied a string to 'lead' the

dripping water to a rubbish bin without

wetting the products on the shelf.

Then I saw these special cans of coffee and hot

chocolates for Rm6.30. What is so special about

this? well, its not because of the contents, that is.

And it has nothing to do with the special

top cover which was designed to allow

you to sip instead of gulping the contents

The answer, ladies and gentlemen, lies at the

bottom. Its a self heating can!

And there are some temperature indicators

on the side to tell you when the drink is OK

for well, drinking. Knowing me, it would still

be too hot and I'll scald my tongue anyway.

Since everyone bought their own stuff, I decided

to get mine too. And I got this. Looks like some

weiedo enjoying a very nice ********

But why I got it was not because of the

sweet. And also not because of the front

which can double up as a badge once you

insert a safety pin on it. Let me show you

Ahm nyum nyum nyum.....

Yam nyam nyam....

And there you have it. Once you put the transparent

cover back on, it looks like one of those Sci-Fi test

tubes or specimen vials. And, the middle part can

serve as some kind of ignitor or focusing element

when it lights up.

A gun for a gun

I got this from Kal yesterday. Actually, it was a surprise since I did not expect anything. The story was, I had this gun since my days when I had the chance to go to Rantau Panjang years ago. And this was the time I got the gun. I am not sure what came over me but getting the gun was the highlight of the trip. What happened next after I got it was well, not so exiting. It was like I have a nuclear weapon in the house but I cannot tell anyone.

So, rather than throw it away, I gave it to Kal.

But I never expect him to gave me one in return (thanks, Kal).

This is Kal's version of the Mauser Since I do not

know the exact detail of Star Wars, I am not sure

if this is the Greedo Killer or other version.

Surpirsingly, this is almost the same gun I

bought from PJ Old Town. But bear in mind

that Kal got his earlier than me. So, I have

to assume the quality is much better.

Part for part, I think they're almost the same and

it could elther be made from the same manufacturer

or, someone copied and made the same molds for all.

Apart from the handle's woodgrain, everything is

the same.

At first, I thought the sights were made from metal

but when I touched it, it was corroded chrome from

the plastic.

Although the small clips were the same, the irony

was that Kal's gun could accept both versions but

not mine. Oh, and Kal's is heavier as is there is

metal inside it.

And so, now I have two Mausers but I can

tell them apart even with my eyes closed

How is that possible? Easy. Mine is pure plastic

and so, it weighs 134g.

But because of the metal inside, Kal's gun

weighs 301g. I suspect its not the components

but some metal weights instead.

Custom remote

OK, I want to make my own custom remote control system after seeing a video on Iron Man props. The reason i am doing this is because the remote control system I bought was too big for my project: It has four channels while I only needed one. So, the only solution is to make my own.

Which (I think) is very simple since I can just follow the modules used in the original circuit. Basically, what you need is the RF transmitter and a matching RF receiver. Then you would need the voltage regulator plus a relay and that's it.

Yeah, right. Easier said than done.

This is a four channel transmitter but I will only

be using one. The other three will be useless or

until I can think of another solution for it.

The transmitter is a very simple module. Here, you have

the battery, the encoder chip and well, the code sequence.

The code sequence here is just a matter of soldering the

appropriate links. They used to have miniature dip switches

but it takes up a lot of space. The only down side is that

when you want to change the codes, you have to de-

solder and re-solder it. Which might wear out the board.

And finally, here is the decoder parts. On the left

is the RD receiver and then on the right is the IC

for decoding the code from the transmitter. As for

the SMT resistors, they are to match the RF

transmitter's frequency. What is not shown here

is the voltage regulator and the relay as I have

not decided on which voltage system to use.

That not so smooth Feeling

For the past few days, I was being plagued with that odd yet familiar burning smell. Thinking its the cars nearby, I thought nothing of it until today. Because when I parked my car, the smell was still there and there were no other cars nearby.

So, I popped the hood and when I saw the engine.............. my mind instantly recalled the source of the smell. It was the smell of engine oil being burnt. To be exact, and to cut the long story short, the engine has no more engine oil. And I still can't find my Bardahl.

The dipstick confirmed it.

So, after failing to find Dori Dori workshop and

YS Khong's workshop was too far away, I went

to BHP and bought a one litre engine oil pack, I

suspect the engine was empty for weeks,

Then I realised that it was not enough and so, I

went to Petronas to get another one litre pack.

This time, the attendant was kind enough to help

me pour it in. This means that all the while since

my last top-up in December or so, the car has no

engine oil inside. And also, I suspect, its either

leaking oil or there is something else......