Today the front break pads arrived. The old ones were not completely worn, but close enough to the indicator to replace them all.
When the line in the middle is gone, they have to be replaced. Now all brake pads are new again.
BBQ upgrade
On April 1st 2017, I first used the Huntington BBQ. Two years ago I replaced the burner cover with Aluminum, as the original one had rusted away. A few weeks ago I was informed that the BBQ had stopped working, as the electrical ignition was broken. As it turned out, it was a little more work that needed to be done; the picture below explains why.
It shows what was left of the burner, ignition , and on the right the aluminum cover. So I ordered a new ignition, a new burner and a new stainless steel flame cover.
The burner is of a better quality than the original with thicker metal and partly stainless steel. The ignition is at the bottom and will ignite both left and right burners.
The flame cover is nice and thick stainless steel, which should last a lot longer. The vent holes will help better heat distribution.
Fully assembled it looks like this. I can’t wait to initiate it with a nice big steak. š„©
Never too old to learn
Last time I was over, I noticed my truck made some grinding noise when driving slow and breaking. It was coming from the rear on the right side. So I ordered some new brake pads to replace the old ones. I never worked on anything mechanical on my truck so I figured I’d be able to š
Turns out it was (over)due;
The one on the right is the old one I took out. It was down to 0, so breaking was metal on metal.
My truck did still have a Jack, but no lug wrench, so I ordered one. Getting the wheels off was no easy task; jumping on the wrench with my full body weight (which at 70kg is a modest weight, admittedly) none of the nuts would give. Being not strong nor heavy, but luckily also not stupid, I extended the arm of the wrench, after which the nuts came off easily.
It can be so convenient to have an engineer’s brain and not two left hands.
The left rear wheel went a lot faster, and the pads weren’t as worn either. I guess even breaks are right oriented here š¤£
Now the car runs silent again and the breaks definitely work better. Friday I will receive the front wheel break pads, and I’ll inspect and if needed replace those. They likely have been replaced before, but from the looks of it, the pads on the rear were the original pads from 2001!
Recent Pictures
After cleaning I took some pictures before I left. This will give an impression of what upstairs looks like.
Sliding Smoothly
When I made the kitchen, the only drawer slides the local McCoys hardware store had were flimsy non telescope, non soft close, non auto close.
The result was that every time I arrived here after not being here for a few months, there were one or more drawers completely out of their slides.
So today I received and installed the first 3 sets of telescope soft auto close slides that I ordered from Amazon. Now the drawers open fully, can take any load (within reason) and won’t get damaged by closing hard.
I’m sure guests will appreciate drawers that work. I know I was always annoyed when I had job sliding drawers upon arrival. Especially since fixing the old drawers slides took only 5 minutes.
But these are hopefully sturdy enough to withstand some abuse.
Rain chain down spout
Last time I was here, I installed a temporary fix to make rain fall off to the side of the deck.
It wasn’t very pretty, so now I replaced it with a pretty alternative; a rain chain down spout.
I had to fake the rain, as none is forecasted for the coming weeks.
It may need a little tweaking to make it spill less, but it looks nice.
Pretty Cool š
Ozuye has always been a pretty cool place, in terms of what it’s like. As of now it can also be cool again in terms of temperature.
Whilst outside it’s 100F (36C) the temperatures inside are cool;
You’ve guessed it; the missing line set did arrive today after all, and a few hours later, both new AC’s are up and running.
The picture above is a screenshot of my app that now can control all 3 AC’s from around the world.
The upstairs bedroom ceiling unit is fairly quiet, although I do hear a little hum.
The new unit replacing the broken one in the master bedroom is quiet and works pretty well too.
For the first time this week the great room is the warmest instead of the coolest š
The AC upstairs can also help cool down the great room if needed by keeping the bedroom door open. The same applies to the upstairs en-suite bathroom.
Iām very glad that my AC install trip worked out well.
The next few days I will test and see if I can integrate them into the Siri smart home environment.
Keep a lid on it
For the past years, every time I walked up to my home, I was annoyed by the trash can that did not have a lid.
The AC arrived on a big pallet, and since I have little use for a pallet, I decided to make a lid for the trash can.
It won’t win me any prizes, but it keeps the bin rain free, won’t blow off, smell less and it only cost me an hour to make it.
The remainder of the pallet I will use for the fire pit.
Upstairs Ceiling AC installed
The ceiling unit is now connected to the outdoor unit with both the line set and electrical cable. 
The water outlet is connected to a hose that runs down to under the house.
The ceiling plate is also installed.
As you can see, the air filter is in the down position; it has a built in lift that lowers the filter for easy cleaning access. My ceiling isn’t that high, but it’s a cool feature.
Outside, the line set and electrical cables are also installed.
The only thing left is to open the valve on the condenser to release the refrigerant, but I probably won’t do that until I have also installed the master bedroom indoor unit.
And then after a final check for leaks, the pipes can be wrapped up to prevent sweating.
Pretty hot š„µ
With my new laser infrared thermometer I can measure the temperature of any surface. The attic upstairs goes up to 104F (42C) even though outside it’s “only” 93F (34C)
So I postpone pulling the line set up there until tomorrow morning.
And some other time I might install a gable louver vent in the attic, so that the hotter than outside air can flow out.
The great room AC still works pretty well; the temperature at the air outlet is 55F (12C)
