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......