Sheep Weed Abatement

There is a 1.5 acre empty lot behind our house and every year theyd “disc” it to remove weeds for fire suppression.  I’ve heard about people renting goats and sheep for mowing down weeds and thought it would be fun to try, but I never got past the thought. 

Automatic Chicken Coop Door

Rest In Peace Grey Chicken I’ve been wanting to design an automatic chicken coop door closer for years.   There are plenty of other systems out there that automatically open and close the coop door, but they are expensive and, well, not designed by me!  😉 Basically my idea is to create a simple system that is Read More …

Daily MySQL Database Backup

I host and manage about 50 different websites.   The vast majority are static sites for friends and family that don’t require any backup processes above the daily backup provided by my webhost.   In the 8 years that I’ve been running websites I’ve been with about 12 hosting companies and even though my current server has had Read More …

Waterproof Basement (mostly)

As you may know, for the past few years I’ve been in process of waterproofing my basement.  Some of the things I’ve done include: Adding gutters to the house Plugging holes in the wall with hydraulic cement Using 4″ irrigation draining pipes to pull the water as far from the house as possible 

New PC Backup Process

I’ve mentioned that I’m pretty anal about computer backups.  I recently purchased a new computer from the Dell Outlet, a Dimension E521 with Windows Vista.  I’ve heard nothing but bad reviews for Vista and am quite happy with my XP setup so my plan was as follows: 

All Articles

This is a list of all articles by category. ChickensAuto Coop Door II – AntennaAuto Coop Door PrototypeAutomatic Chicken Coop DoorAutomatic Chicken Waterer and FeederCandling Chicken EggsChicken CoopChicken FriendsHatching Chicks From Eggs – 1Hatching Chicks From Eggs – 2Hatching Chicks From Eggs – 3Our ChickensHome & GardenAutomatic Compost Sifter – ScreenBasement WaterproofingBasement Waterproofing-3Basement Waterproofing-Journal of Read More …

Lawn Top Dressing

This summer in Northern California has been pretty hot.  I noticed a few areas of my lawn were more effected than others, specifically brown areas where my sprinklers weren’t getting enough water.   Yes, I could re-arrange the sprinklers or add a few more lines, but I’m just not up to that task.  During some internet Read More …

Laser Toner Cartridge Refill

My Experiences With Laser Toner Cartridges (Refilling and Remanufactured) I’ve decided to chronicle my experiences with laser toner cartridges over the past few years. I’ve had a hand at refilling toner cartridges and have also used remanufactured (refurbished) cartridges.