Guys’ Camping Trip to Starved Rock

A couple of weekends ago some buddies and I took a weekend trip to Starved Rock for a men-only camping trip. There were five of us: me, Jeremy, Dave, Eric and Colin, but the camper wasn’t all that crowded. Parking was, however, since most of us had to drive separately.

Jeremy and I headed to camp early Friday afternoon. We dropped the camper off at the campsite then drove to Ottawa in the rain, where we played a round of disc golf in the rain. Afterwards, we drove back in the rain and set up the camper in the rain. See a pattern? Dave showed up around 7pm and the rain continued pretty heavily until about 8:30pm. Around 9:00, Colin and Eric showed up.

On saturday, we hiked most of the trails at Matthiessen State Park. The weather was very cooperative, but the previous rain made most of the trails in the lower dells very muddy; Colin found himself knee-deep in the mud at one point. I fell in the pool at the bottom of the falls (apparently wet slanted rock is slick). Colin was attacked by a salamander at the same pool (okay, it just climbed over his foot).

Dave and Jeremy had to leave around mid afternoon, so Colin and Eric and I headed out to Starved Rock afterwards. He hiked up St. Louis canyon followed by heading up Starved Rock itself around sunset. On top of the rock we ran into a group of amateur “ghost hunters” looking for “orbs” in their digital photos.

Sunday morning, we ended up sleeping in pretty late, so Colin and Eric had to leave. I took the opportunity to winterize the camper. Now it’s time to wait for spring… Actually, I’ll likely try to plan a tent camping trip like last year if I can swing it.

I posted the pictures from our excursion on the photos page. In case you’re wondering about the pictures, I’d just gotten a new camera, so we did a lot of fooling around trying to get interesting action shots.

NiMH Battery Testing Complete

After several weeks of testing, I’ve finally completed my analysis of all my rechargeable batteries.

I know I’ll probably catch a little grief for spending my time on a seemingly pointless endeavour, but using the results of these tests, I’ll know which of my batteries I can trust. I’ve also learned a little bit about what brands of batteries to buy next time I need them.

To see the results of my testing, visit my NiMH Battery Testing page.

Stompers!

Last week at work, the topic of toys from our childhood came up. One toy with many shared fond memories were the AA-powered 4×4 trucks called “Stompers.” Apparently they’re still made, at least according to these enthusiast sites:

http://www.route21.com/stompers/

http://www.stomper4x4.com/

Here’s a short video of one in action. See if it brings back any memories:

Stomper Hill Climb

Even though they’re still manufactured, I haven’t had much luck finding them yet. I’ve heard they cost around $3, and finding one would bring me way more than $3 worth of joy!

phpBB spam problem

For another project, I run a simple bulletin board using phpBB. Over the past several months it’s basically been unusable due to spam. I think the bots are able to defeat the standard captcha that phpBB provides. I tried a number of solutions (increased requirements for posting, hidden fields, reducing the reward for spamming, etc.), but nothing seemed to work very well at reducing the spam volume.

Thankfully, I think I’ve got it licked now, at least for the time being. Anti-Spam ACP seems to be doing the trick. It’s showing in its logs around 150 spammer registrations per day that are being denied. It’s nice not having to manually delete all that junk!

IMAP on Gmail?

Ok, I haven’t posted anything in a while, but this is exciting (to me, at least). It looks like Gmail is going to support access through IMAP!

Basically, that means you’ll be able to work with your Gmail account from an email client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) better than you can today. Instead of just downloading messages from Gmail into your client, it will sync two ways.

I’m interested to see the details on how they handle IMAP folders using the Gmail labels.

DIY Bike Rack

I recently got a new truck (a 2007 Toyota Tundra) and wanted to come up with a way to carry my bikes in the bed of the truck when going camping. There are lots of options out there available for purchase, but I had some pretty specific requirements.

I’ve written up a page about my simple DIY bike rack. It’s nothing earth shattering, but hopefully it will give someone an idea and help save a little cash!

Remember the Milk

For a couple of weeks now I’ve been using an online to-do list called “Remember the Milk.” Now that I’ve got a couple of weeks of experience, I’m going to recommend it. To sign up, just visit http://www.rememberthemilk.com/. You can separate your tasks into separate lists (work, finance, hobbies, etc.) and set priorities. You can also import your tasks from Microsoft Outlook if you want. My favorite feature is the ability to integrate into your iGoogle page. Finally, you can send tasks to another user, which I haven’t tried, but could be neat.

There are a lot of reviews of Remember the Milk and iGoogle, so I won’t add yet another one. I just wanted to cast my vote for this setup as a workable system. It’s not a perfect setup, but it’s been treating me better than paper lists, and unlike Outlook, I can access it from anywhere! If you’re interested in setting it up and have problems, let me know.

Do-it-yourself battery capacity tester

During a recent trip to a theme park, I discovered that a couple of the nickel metal hydride batteries that I brought along for my digital camera didn’t work for more than a minute or two. Preferring not to be in that position again, I decided to test the capacity of all my rechargeable AA’s so I could demote the bad ones to less critical applications.

I wrote up a page describing the simple device I built using a couple of resistors and a wall clock. It looks kind of like a bomb, but works great! Check it out!

Ok, I bought the Tundra

After a lot of deliberation, we decided to trade in our old truck on the new 2007 Toyota Tundra. We got a 2WD SR5 Double Cab with the 5.7L V8. For options, the one we chose has the rear sliding window, an upgraded audio system, heated mirrors, and some other minor things.

2007 Tundra

There are lots of reviews out there, so rather than repeat them all, I’ll just list the features that made this truck appealing to us. Some of them aren’t immediately obvious considerations, but it’s clear the designers thought a lot of things through.

  • Lots of power, but the engine is very quiet and smooth
  • 6-speed transmission, and the ability to select each gear individually for downgrades
  • Down Hill Assist Control (they don’t market that feature enough)
  • Front bench seat – center seat has lots of storage in the seat base and seat back
  • Cup holders that can fit Nalgene bottles
  • Aux-in port for iPod, etc.
  • Well-designed back seat that can fit a car seat in all three positions – the Dodge Quad Cab’s center position won’t work
  • Plenty of space under the rear seat for stowing bags, etc.
  • Transmission temperature gauge is standard (great for towing!)
  • Tight turning radius – seems same as my Dakota, despite the wheelbase being a foot longer
  • No sharp inside corners in the bed, meaning no spots for dirt, gravel, etc. to get stuck!

We haven’t found any real downsides yet, other than the added width and length making parking a little more challenging. The best surprise so far has been the gas mileage. The first tank, which was about 250 miles total, including 80 on the highway, yielded 15.7 mpg overall. For comparison, the overal average mileage I got out of my Dakota was 13.6 (ugh…), and the best tank I ever had on that truck was 15.5 mpg. I’m guessing the mileage will also improve after the break-in period.

I took our popup camper (2500 lbs) for a spin, and it pulled it effortlessly, which wasn’t surprising. We’re hoping to upgrade to a small travel trailer eventually, so I don’t forsee any problems with towing so far.

All in all, we’re really happy with our new purchase!