Archive for August, 2009

Why Jason Campbell Should Not Be Washington’s Starting QB

Aug 29

Posted by byan in NFL | No Comments

I just watched the highlights of the New England vs. Washington game and am fairly unimpressed by Campbell again. Let me explain why…

First drive was decent, and he made one amazing throw to Moss. I thought, okay, not bad. But then I realized #28 on defense was making majority of the boner highlights for the Pats. He got lit up.
Second, the score was 17 -7 with 4 minutes to go in the second half. Where was this awesomeness during the rest of the half??
So he hits Joe Cooley, who was so open Uncle Rico could have hit em over them mountains. Cooley ran about 30 more yards down to the 5 yard line. Then on 3rd down (no first or second) Campbell had to run it in. Why? Majority of the time great QB’s get it done on first or second when it’s within the 5.
Then he drove them down for a field goal at the very end of the half. Campbell made a wonderful throw to a RB with 12 seconds left in the half. It seemed like a decent drive.

Summary: New England looks much better on offense then Washington. However, New England DB’s and safety’s look borderline awful.

Bottom Line: Jason Campbell is respectable, but doesn’t win games with consistency. Todd Collins in my opinion has more ball control skills and provides 99% more consistency equating to more wins. Kind of the same reason the 49ers go with Hill over Smith. Also, the last QB to take Washington to the playoffs was Collins. Enough said! Don’t believe my words, look at the history books.

Look at the Washington Redskins 2007’s history. Jason Campbell plays through week 13, and Washington is 5-7 (remember a bye included)
Collins comes in and they finish 9-7 and make the playoffs. They go to Seattle and lose 35-14 in a game where Washington’s O line and WR let the team down.

2008 Washington finishes 8-8 and sits in last place when they gave you 5 games, no consistency. Start 6-2 and finish 8-8, no consistency.

Guess who was on their schedule helping pave the way???? These powerhouse with a combined record of 21 – 75.
Rams
Browns
Lions
Seahawks
Bengals
49ers

Todd Collins says “When Campbell is running the show, it looks a lot better when we’re getting hammered on the sidelines.”

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Replacing a Window Regulator on a 2003 Honda Element EX

Aug 26

Posted by byan in technology | 36 Comments

My window snapped, fell in the door, and wouldn’t roll up anymore. If that’s you, you are about to get some help. Here is my step by step to replace your DRIVER side window regulator. Part number 72250-SCV-A02. Just for your reference, the PASSENGER side is 72210-SCV-A02. I got my part for $91.38 (driver side is more expensive) from a local Phoenix dealer. Bought it on the web, then picked it up via will call. Buying it on the web and then picking it up saved me about $40. If you buy it in person they charge $128. I bought it at http://www.hondapartsunlimited.com/
So I got the Window Regulator, brought it home, and never took a picture of it. However, I did take one of the broken one when I removed it. If you see the springs sticking out, that’s why it’s broken.

So here are my steps for replacing the Window Regulator

Step 1:
Remove the door cover. Start by removing the plate with tiny flat head, then remove 2 screws.

Step 2:
Remove plate with tiny flat head and take out 1 screw.

Step 3:
Remove speaker grill by pulling it out.

Step 4:
Remove 3 screws holding speaker in.

Step 5:
Pull speaker out and disconnect it by pinching white tab

Step 6:
Pull out inside door handle slightly

Step 7:
Remove linkage from interior door handle

Step 8:
Let door handle dangle. No need to disconnect it.

Step 9: THE HARDEST STEP
Remove 2 plastic triangles. The right one takes about 10 seconds (pry from the top down). This is the left most one, and it is by far the hardest thing I had to do in the whole replacement. It took me 30 minutes to get this off. All I can say is this, it needs to come towards you, then up, then diagonal up/right. You will bend this, I promise. I found my best bet was to use two screw drivers instead of one. Be patient, this will take time.
Look inside here to find the brass tab.

Step 10:
Everything is ready, prepare for the door cover to come off. I recommend putting something on the ground to balance the door cover on. Because when it comes off the wires will be connected, but the cover is to short to rest on the ground. I used a 40lb bag of salt.

Step 11:
Remove the door plastic. This is a link to the video, because I couldn’t show it through pictures. Pretty easy to do. Remember to slide the door handle through the opening and leave it connected. Much easier.
http://byanwong.com/vidsbw/remove_plastic_honda_element.mpg

Step 12:
The door is still connected, let’s look in between at the connections. You should see two of them.

Step 13:
Remove white connection blocks by pinching white tab. Shown below in video link.
Video: http://byanwong.com/vidsbw/Unplug%20Power%20Windows.mpg

Step 14:
Set hard plastic off to the side, and we start to remove the Window Regulator. This is what the door should look like prior to removal.

Step 15:
Unplug the Window Regulator. It’s the blue cable behind the white plastic that should be attached to the door via an orange tab. Here is a picture of the cable connected, then disconnected, then broken from the orange tab. Extra photo.

Connected
Disconnected
Removed from orange tab (broken away). Remove the orange tab from wall.

Step 16:
Peel back the white plastic a bit by unplugging black tab out of top left corner, and peeling back from left to right. I didn’t remove it, just peeled it back.

Pull out black tab, then peel.
Result

Step 17:
Remove the 2 top bolts holding the Window Regulator in place (I still have one to go). Make sure the glass is up and secure. I used a couple of paint sponges and lodged them in between the window and the door to hold it up.

Step 18:
Remove the 2 bottom bolts holding the Window Regulator in place.

Step 19:
Loosen the final 3 bolts holding regulator (motor ??) in place. Reach your hand in the door once the bolts are loosened and grab the motor piece. Move the piece until the screws slide out.

Step 20:
Move the glass to the bottom of the door, and carefully remove the two bolts holding the glass in place.

Step 21:
Remove the glass from the car and set to the side. Getting the glass out is pretty easy, however be careful of scratching it on the way out.

Step 22:
Pull broken regulator out of door. Place new regulator in its spot. IMPORTANT: remember how the regulator was in the door (top, bottom, which direction it’s facing). It’s easy to mess that up. But thankfully it’s tough to install it wrong because of the way the three screws from the motor part are arranged in the door. I am holding the regulator up as it will look inside the door.

Step 23:
When placing the new Window Regulator, it should have one bolt pre installed in the long arm. Look at this picture and see the right hand side of the linkage. You should see a silver bolt near it. That pre installed bolt should be slid into that exact hole. You will notice everything will line up perfectly. Next, put back in the missing bolt from step 17 and the 2 missing bolts from step 18 and tighten.

Step 24:
Slide the glass back in the door and let go down until it lines up with these two holes. Once lined up, tighten the window.

Step 25:
Make sure the regulator is plugged in and the new orange tab is snapped into the wall.

Step 26:
Put everything back the way it was.

Step 27:
Say “Fuck that noise, I didn’t pay $300- $400 for this, I paid $91.”

Step 28:
I tried to cover everything that I could in detail. If anyone has any questions, please ask me. I will come back through and try to clean up the incoherent sentences, as well as any content that isn’t detailed enough. Please keep educating the common person with the tools you have at your finger tips. My hope is that the next thing I have to fix will already be documented on the net.

Extra Videos: I am posting a bunch of videos I took along the way. Maybe I will sort them out at a later date.

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Football Schedule

Aug 25

Posted by byan in Flag Football | 1 Comment

Here is the 2009 schedule for the Tempe Talleywackers

No Mas!

Aug 25

Posted by byan in technology | 1 Comment

I bought the extended warranty on my 2003 Honda Element for 7 years or 90,000 miles. I never reached 90,000 however 7 years just recently passed. I used $400 of the $1200 I spent. I got piece of mind out of the deal so i wasn’t too bent out of shape. That was until my window broke 10 days after the warranty ran out. So I call Honda and they want $300 – $400 for it. I say NO MAS senor.

I bought the damn part for 91.38 from the dealer and I am doing it myself. Like always, I am fully documenting this for others who have similar problems. The only way for average everyday people to get rich, is to get smart. Stop wasting on our money on services and start educating ourselves to be more self sufficient. Of course I will still pay for certain services, but by cutting this in half, I will benefit.

If I can show some guy or gal who’s struggling to make ends meet how to save $200, then I am doing something productive with my life. I will be uploading pictures shortly.

Here is what happened to my Honda Element. I was rolling up the powered driver side window, then it made this noise… “chug, chug, SNAP.” The window slid right in the door. I went right to the internet to find that window regulators break frequently. Believe it or not, I found that this had happened to my passenger widow years back. I simply forgot about it.

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Sam Update – Allergies, Redness, and Itching

Aug 8

Posted by byan in dogs | 1 Comment

Sammy’s neck is some what getting better after 2 weeks. With the help of the following:

- All of the medication listed below
- Iodine dilluted in water
- A Probiotic supplement (not drug) that was added to offset the antibiotics.
- Her dog collar taken off at all times. It makes her itch so we took it off. Unless going on a walk.
-Complete house lockdown. We don’t let her outside unless she is going to the bathroom or a short walk. In that case we carry her over the grass and it’s concrete only.

Clean Those Feet:
If she is ever outside (bathroom), we immediately wipe her feet down with a wet rag in the inside entry way and the rag then goes in the dirty laundry. But what we have found to be more effective is using iodine dilluted in water which is anti bacterial and anti fungal. We use a 12x 6 plastic container from Target. We use room temp water (not hot or cold) and fill it deep enough to immerse her feet. The water should resemble a tea color. It ends up being about a gallon of water and a tablespoon or more iodine. That just a guess to help understand how dilluted it actually is. Iodine has worked wonders. We have had no issues with staining either which was a big concern of mine. We resuse the water about 5 times and add iodine as needed. Really a simple process. However it’s a lot of dirty rags.
I will upload the iodine procedure later as well as a picture of the iodine product which can be bought at a drug store or some grocery stores. I highly recommend the less potent iodine. Usually comes in a bigger. The smaller one has the crossbones on it, and it is way more potent. One final note on the iodine is that Sam eventually got used to the idea after about 10-12 times. It’s worth the struggle and it helps to have 2 people.

Money, Time, and Bullshit:
This has been a very expensive and time consuming procedure. We obviously are willing to go much further than the typical owner. We are trying a more holistic approach while other vets have recommended hardcore steroids and things of that nature. We were roped into that last summer along with multiple Cortesone shots that help, but only mask the symptoms.

Vet Selection:
I have found that simply taking the vets word as gospel, can sometimes not be your best option. You need to show your vet that you are proactive and willing to be educated. If you act like a doormat, they might not rise to the challenge. I used that approach and the found out the hard way. Be selective in your vet choice and look where they went to school at. Also ask the vet tech/or assistants questions because they will sometimes reveal pertinant info that you might not get out of your Vet. Hell they work there, they might have seen a similar case in a prvious dog or previous internship. I will list my vets info, for she is the best I have ever been to, but she would rank in the top 10% of vets I have been to out of about 20-25.

Time Devoted and Thinking Outside the Box:
Myself or my wife have been home watching Sam full time for about a month to make sure she wouldn’t literally rip her skin off. No dates, just a lot of movie rentals, and what not. It happened that are work schedules coincided to allow this. However, most wouldn’t have this luxury, so here is what I recommend based on my trials. If you cannot be there, put your dog in some form of shirt and put boots on their feet to stop them from doing major damage with the itching. I will display a picture of the boots we used to stop Sam from itching. It is vital that you do not leave the boots on full time, because if the paws are irritated, they will become infected from no exposure to air. I also recommend airing out the boots when they are not being worn by turning them inside out. Also hand washing them as well from time to time helps. We use a non perfume based soap.

Another idea we have just implemented is the use of distraction. We have gotten her bones to chew on that keep her attention focused on something besides the itching. It also helps that we have another dog, but not as much as I originally thought.

Community:
Obviously I am one owner with one case. What I can say is that this is my third summer dealing with this, and I’ve spent a lot of money and been to a bunch of vets looking for a solution. I know there are plenty of owners out there,and this will save you so much time, money, and effort. We’ll lead block on this one in hopes that others will write down their experiences to make the dog owner population a more educated one.

I apologize for and grammar errors or spelling. Just writing, not proofing. I will come back and fix that :)

Here’s a picture of the Iodine I am using.

Summer Bermuda Grass – Phoenix Arizona Pt II

Aug 6

Posted by byan in lawn | No Comments

So I have started my quest to get rid of the weed I deemed “Weed 1″ in my previous post.

About 2 weeks ago I went to Home Depot and got some advice to try Scotts Turf Builder to treat “Weed #1.” So I purchased a Scotts seed distributer unit ($44) and a bag of the Scotts Turf Builder ($18). I followed the directions for distribution and prior/post lawn care. The results two weeks later were non existent and disappointing to say the least. Not only that, but now the weeds have actually spread. So I wouldn’t recommend using Scotts Turf builder on Bermuda Grass in the summer. Maybe it works in some applications, however in this heat, it seemed pretty weak.

Here is a picture of what my lawn is now starting to look like as the weeds spread.

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Job Search

Aug 4

Posted by byan in Opinions | 5 Comments

Objective:
I have been thinking about this for sometime, and tonight’s the night. I am writing a cover letter and fixing my resume to send over for a job, and the process couldn’t be more annoying. First off, why do we write cover letters…seriously, no really seriously? Cover letters are the single biggest waste of human time. I feel more accomplishment in watching shitty reality television. Sell us, and if we get time we might read the first sentence. How about your resume rocks, or you just check the “I know someone box” and we’ll give you the job cause your dad used to golf with my uncle 10 years ago in Idaho. That seems how it usually goes anyway. Save us the time.

Experience:
What ever happened to sending a resume only? Now it’s send a cover letter, fill out our special 3 page online application with all of the same info (the read in function never works right), and fill out our extra questionnaire, and while your at it, give me 50 push ups you little bitch. On top of that Career Builder is trying to get you to sign up for more things than the average porn site. They have all of these messages regarding usage of information and privacy policies. Translation – “Hey, we’re going to send you a ton of spam for the rest of you life, do you agree? Ah, cause if you don’t you can take the job and shove it up your urethra.” We all click yes, and we all write down our working phone numbers, emails, and addresses. I bet Career Builder is doing their very best to keep that little secret, at least until they receive their highest bidder. All so we can work for some company that we will bitch about for the next 3 years.

Formatting:
Some want rtf’s, some want word .doc, some can’t accept .docx, some will accept PDF’s, some won’t. Are you kidding me? Why don’t you just scan your nut sack in, and email it to me for a virtual teabagging. PDF or Jpeg sucker, they are painless!!! Bullet points, indents, it’s all there!!! If you can’t figure out a pdf or jpeg, you have no business on a computer. Sending resumes as word files is a waste of time. Because some lady named Wendy in HR has one version of Word that she knows as gospel. And Wendy has the final word on your resume.

Additional Questions:
The part that pisses me off the most is the fact that I do the f’n cover letter, resume and get the format all right. But now they have an additional 10-12 question sheet they want me to fill out. It’s like a bonus round in game no one wants to play. Really, after all I hear about how long most resumes get looked and you want a cover letter and 12 more questions for extra fun. Maybe this is why unemployment is up :)

Work Experience:
My favorite is some of the Apple corporate website job descriptions. They have jobs for security that are basically titled “Security Superhero Engineer.”

Have a BS in Computer Science, 31 years of experience in beating down the bad guys, have the ability to catch bullets in your teeth while texting, fluent in Spanish and Chinese? Well then we might be looking for you to be a part-time security guard at Apple HQ.

Additional Desired:
Awesome 40 time
Finished in the top 1% of your college class

Education:
Looking for a job should be simpler process if you truly want the best candidate. The steps should be
-Look for job
-Like job
-Do resume (spend 20-30 minutes)
-Email resume to company as a PDF
-Employer responds or doesn’t

The truth is if some companies took their time and did a bit more thinking regarding the hiring process, they might not have so much turn over. When I say thinking, I mean possibly simplifying the process. I feel like we’re stuck in a really stinky time, and in 20 years we will say, “why couldn’t it have been like this back in the day.”
But that’s a whole different topic.

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