A few days ago that nail I cracked across in March when I was a little careless with my circle cutter reached the point where enough nail had grown as to make the broken end a little hazardous. Remember this?
Something had to be done as the end of the nail falling off would probably yield unbearable pain. I hear pulling nails off was a form of torture by the Nazis. I had no intention of empathizing with those tortured by the Nazis by following in their footsteps so I had to take drastic measures. Cue the dollar store and a fake nail. Yes, I glued on a fake nail and it stayed on well for a few days then fell off. I suspect I’ll just have to keep regluing it because I press things hard with my thumb and probably break the glue.
So I turned the above abomination into an even worse abomination.
Finally I trimmed it and now it looks better though still a little different from all my other nails. I don’t want to go the whole hog and do all my nails like that. They’re a little impractical but with a little trimming and some spinach I survive.
Meanwhile I tried my Harbor Freight 30 ton hydraulic jack. I tried to jack up a pickup truck and the jack went up but would not go down again, even after totally removing the release screw. Somebody said it might need more hydraulic fluid. Personally I think it’s a heap of junk that should be thrown at the head of the CEO of Harbor Freight. I had to dig the jack out from under the pickup by excavating underneath it!
Yesterday I tested my digital code lock with a relay and found it worked perfectly. I’d been spending ages trying to work out where to install the pesky thing but in the end decided simplest was best. As it’s always going to be an emergency for me to use the code lock, it doesn’t have to be in a very user friendly place. Thus it’s not going to be in a user friendly place!
As the code lock has an alarm function I had hoped to utilize it when somebody entered the wrong code in order to scare the daylights out of them. Sadly that alarm is only a tamper alarm not a wrong code alarm so there wasn’t much point in hooking the bus horn up to the unit. I will, however, put a loud piezo buzzer on the relay so that if the code lock is used then an alarm will sound - just in case somebody operates it while I’m inside the bus. It gives me a valuable 30 seconds or so to grab my revolver.
That’s a video of my testing the code lock.
I sketched out a rough circuit diagram for my relays with the door lock. The plan was to have the keyed lock operating as normal but when the digital code lock operates, the keyed lock gets cut out of the circuit and the door lock opens. On top of the dash will be a button that closes the door lock. Pressing that cuts out both the keyed lock and the code lock. That will ensure there are never any crossed circuits or any problems.
It was then that I realised I needed some more wire, cable wrap, screws and a push button. Well, not quite - I started to install the first solenoid and found my hex head self-drillers weren’t going to fit properly. Thus I had to dash off to Lowes (hiss, spit) for the bits. $19.92 I returned home after chatting with the cashier about what an odd year 1992 had been. It was my first independent trip to Italy, the year I started to learn Russian and the year I went to university.
I’m not rushing to complete the door lock stuff today. I just wanted to get it underway. Thus I installed the pair of relays. That was about all I had time for before my drill ran out of charge too!
Thus far everything works perfectly. The next stage will be to drill 3 holes to mount the code lock and bolt it into place then seal all around it. Then I have to pass the wires behind the console and lots of fun, awkward stuff like that. Finally I have to install the button, the buzzer and power it all on. Next I’ve got to work out which fuse works best for it all. I’m guessing its going to end up as a 7.5A fuse but I could be wrong. It could be lower.
A few days ago I ordered a white nylon strap to fasten the microwave down. I’ll have to see how well that works. I’ve an idea about using it in combination with two white drawer handles and a webbing tighter buckle. Underneath the microwave I figured a thin strip of wood in front of the feet would stop it sliding forward while the strap kept it from sliding sideways and kept it pressed to the counter.
Tomorrow, if I get to work on the bus, the rest of the wiring will be done. I’m still mulling over where to install the switch. My current favorite is on the control console even though this means adding an extra wire to my bulging bundle.
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